pumpkin

UK: /ˈpʌmpkɪn/

US: /ˈpʌmpkɪn or, commonly, ˈpʌŋkɪn/

US: (pump′kin or, commonly, pung′kin)

WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2026

pump•kin /ˈpʌmpkɪn or, commonly, ˈpʌŋkɪn/   n. 

1. Plant Biology a large, edible, orange-yellow fruit that grows on a vine that lies on the ground:
   [countable] to carve jack-o'-lanterns out of a couple of pumpkins.
   [uncountable] a pie filled with pumpkin.

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2026

pump•kin  (pump′kin or, commonly, pung′kin), n. 

1. Plant Biology a large, edible, orange-yellow fruit borne by a coarse, decumbent vine, Cucurbita pepo, of the gourd family.
2. Plant Biology the similar fruit of any of several related species, as C. maxima or C. moschata.
3. Plant Biology a plant bearing such fruit.

• Greek pépōn kind of melon
• Latin pepōn- (stem of pepō)
• Middle French, nasalized variant of popon melon, earlier pepon
• alteration of pumpion (see -kin), variant of pompon 1640–50

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::

pumpkin / ˈpʌmpkɪn/ noun

1. any of several creeping cucurbitaceous plants of the genus Cucurbita, esp C. pepo of North America and C. maxima of Europe
2. the large round fruit of any of these plants, which has a thick orange rind, pulpy flesh, and numerous seeds
3. (often capital) a term of endearment

Etymology: 17th Century: from earlier pumpion, from Old French pompon, from Latin pepo, from Greek pepōn, from pepōn ripe, from peptein to ripen