citrine

C3I1T1R1I1N1E1
US/ˈsɪtɹin/US/ˈsɪtɹən/US/ˈsɪtɹain/UK/ˈsɪtɹiːn/

noun

A goldish-yellow colour, like that of a lemon.

OriginMiddle English citrine ← Middle French citrine ← Latin citrīnus →
Less commonScrabble 9
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Word of the Day · Oct 25, 2026

Meanings

citrine1

nouncitrine (countable and uncountable, plural citrines)

plural citrines · alternative citrean · alternative citrinous

  1. countableuncountableA goldish-yellow colour, like that of a lemon.

    […] the urine becometh citrine, or of a deep yellowe color […]

    1598, Francis Thynne, Animadversions […]
    2 more examples

    dorrẹ̅, dōrī adj. & n. […] Golden or reddish-yellow […] (a. 1398) *Trev. Barth. 59b/a: ʒelouʒ colour [of urine] […] tokeneþ febleness of hete […] dorrey & citrine & liʒt red tokeneþ mene.

    c. 1398, quoted in Hans Kurath & Sherman M. Kuhn, eds., Middle English Dictionary, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan Press, ISBN 978-0-472-01044-8, 1962, page 1242

    From above and behind his head, there came a bumblebee as big as his thumb. It circled his ear, then hovered by the rock, probing the nodes of citrine, which were the same bright yellow as the fieldstars that bloomed among the hills.

    2008, Christopher Paolini, “Rider and Ra'zac”, in Brisingr, page 69
  2. countableuncountableA brownish-yellow quartz.
adjectivecitrine (not comparable)

alternative citrean · alternative citrinous

  1. not comparableOf a goldish-yellow colour.

    The coin […] bore what I at first thought was a woman's face—a woman crowned, neither young nor old, but silent and perfect in the citrine metal.

    1980, Gene Wolfe, chapter III, in The Shadow of the Torturer (The Book of the New Sun; 1), New York: Simon & Schuster, →ISBN, page 31

Citrine2

proper nounCitrine (plural Citrines)

plural Citrines

  1. A surname.

Origin

  1. Latincitrīnus
  2. Middle Frenchcitrine
  3. Middle Englishcitrine
  4. Englishcitrine

From Middle English citrine, partly from Middle French citrine and partly from Latin citrīnus.

More words from Middle English, Middle French, Latin

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Catalan citrina
  • citrinabrownish-yellow quartz
Chinese Cantonese 黃水晶 /黄水晶
  • 黃水晶 /黄水晶 (wong⁴ seoi² zing¹)brownish-yellow quartz
Chinese Mandarin 黃水晶 /黄水晶
  • 黃水晶 /黄水晶 (huángshuǐjīng)brownish-yellow quartz
Dutch citrien
  • citrienbrownish-yellow quartz
Finnish sitriininkeltainen, sitriini
  • sitriininkeltainengoldish-yellow colour
  • sitriinibrownish-yellow quartz
  • sitriininkeltainenof a goldish-yellow colour
French citrine
  • citrinebrownish-yellow quartz
German Citrin
  • Citrinbrownish-yellow quartz
Irish ciotrónach, citrín
  • ciotrónachgoldish-yellow colour
  • citrínbrownish-yellow quartz
  • tópás bréigebrownish-yellow quartz
  • ciotrónachof a goldish-yellow colour
Italian citrino
  • citrinobrownish-yellow quartz
Japanese 黄水晶, シトリン
  • 黄水晶 (Kisuishō)brownish-yellow quartz
  • シトリン (Shitorin)brownish-yellow quartz
Polish cytryn
  • cytrynbrownish-yellow quartz
Portuguese citrino
  • citrinobrownish-yellow quartz
Russian цитри́н, фальши́вый топа́з
  • цитри́н (citrín)brownish-yellow quartz
  • фальши́вый топа́з (falʹšívyj topáz)brownish-yellow quartz
Spanish citrino
  • citrinobrownish-yellow quartz
Ukrainian цитри́н, цитри́новий
  • цитри́н (cytrýn)brownish-yellow quartz
  • цитри́новий (cytrýnovyj)of a goldish-yellow colour
Welsh sitrin
  • sitrinbrownish-yellow quartz

Rhymes & wordplay

Sounds the same

Citroën (UK)citron (General American)Citroën (UK)citron (General American)

Anagrams

neriticincitertricinecitinercrinite
Cite this entry
APA

citrine. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/citrine

MLA

“citrine.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/citrine. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “citrine,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/citrine.

Source: citrine on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.