Meanings
plural marmalades
- countableuncountableA kind of jam made with citrus fruit, distinguished by being made slightly bitter by the addition of the peel and by partial caramelisation during manufacture. Most commonly made with Seville oranges, and usually qualified by the name of the fruit when made with other types of fruit.First known use late 15c.
lime marmalade
1 more example
thick cut marmalade
present singular third person marmalades · participle present marmalading · participle past marmaladed · past marmaladed
Synonyms & antonyms
Origin
- Ancient Greekμελίμηλον
- Latinmelimēlum“sweet apple”
- Portuguesemarmelada“quince jam”
- Middle Frenchmarmelade
- Englishmarmalade
Borrowed from Middle French marmelade, from Portuguese marmelada (“quince jam”), from marmelo (“quince”), from Latin melimēlum (“sweet apple”), from Ancient Greek μελίμηλον (melímēlon, from μέλι (méli, “honey”) + μῆλον (mêlon, “apple”)). A false folk etymology claims that this comes from the French phrase “Marie est malade” (“Mary is ill”), referring to Mary, Queen of Scots, falling ill and being given marmalade to feel better.
More words from Middle French, Portuguese, Latin
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Afrikaans marmelade
- marmeladecitrus jam
Ancient Greek παλάθη
- παλάθη (paláthē)citrus jam
Arabic مَرْمَلَاد
- مَرْمَلَاد (marmalād)citrus jam
Basque marmelada
- marmeladacitrus jam
Bulgarian мармалад
- мармалад (marmalad)citrus jam
Catalan melmelada
- melmeladacitrus jam
Chinese Cantonese 橙皮占
- 橙皮占 (caang² pei⁴ zim¹)citrus jam
Chinese Mandarin 橘子果醬 /橘子果酱, 果醬 /果酱
- 橘子果醬 /橘子果酱 (júzi guǒjiàng)citrus jam
- 果醬 /果酱 (guǒjiàng)citrus jam
- 果子醬 /果子酱 (guǒzijiàng)citrus jam
Czech marmeláda
- marmeládacitrus jam
Danish syltetøj
- syltetøjcitrus jam
Dutch marmelade, jam
- marmeladecitrus jam
- jamcitrus jam
- confituurcitrus jam
Esperanto marmelado
- marmeladocitrus jam
Estonian marmelaad
- marmelaadcitrus jam
Finnish marmeladi, marmelaadi
- marmeladicitrus jam
- marmelaadicitrus jam
- marmelaaticitrus jam
French confiture, confiture d'oranges
- confiturecitrus jam
- confiture d'orangescitrus jam
- marmelade d'orangescitrus jam
German Marmelade
- Marmeladecitrus jam
Greek μαρμελάδα
- μαρμελάδα (marmeláda)citrus jam
Hindi मुरब्बा
- मुरब्बा (murabbā)citrus jam
Hungarian narancsdzsem, narancslekvár
- narancsdzsemcitrus jam
- narancslekvárcitrus jam
- marmeládcitrus jam
Indonesian marmelade
- marmeladecitrus jam
Irish marmaláid
- marmaláidcitrus jam
Italian marmellata
- marmellatacitrus jam
Japanese マーマレード
- マーマレード (māmarēdo)citrus jam
Korean 마멀레이드
- 마멀레이드 (mameolleideu)citrus jam
Latin marmēlāta
- marmēlātacitrus jam
Latvian marmelāde
- marmelādecitrus jam
Lithuanian marmeladas
- marmeladascitrus jam
Māori māmarei
- māmareicitrus jam
Norwegian Bokmål marmelade, syltetøy
- marmeladecitrus jam
- syltetøycitrus jam
Persian مارمالاد
- مارمالاد (mârmâlâd)citrus jam
Polish marmolada
- marmoladacitrus jam
Portuguese geleia
- geleiacitrus jam
Romanian marmeladă
- marmeladăcitrus jam
Russian джем, пови́дло
- джем (džem)citrus jam
- пови́дло (povídlo)citrus jam
- мармела́д (marmelád)citrus jam
Slovak marmeláda
- marmeládacitrus jam
Spanish mermelada
- mermeladacitrus jam
Swedish marmelad
- marmeladcitrus jam
Turkish marmelat
- marmelatcitrus jam
Ukrainian джем, пови́дло
- джем (džem)citrus jam
- пови́дло (povýdlo)citrus jam
- мармеля́да (marmeljáda)citrus jam
Vietnamese mứt cam
- mứt camcitrus jam
Welsh marmalêd
- marmalêdcitrus jam
Yiddish מאַרמעלאַד
- מאַרמעלאַד (marmelad)citrus jam
Cite this entry
marmalade. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/marmalade
“marmalade.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/marmalade. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “marmalade,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/marmalade.
Source: marmalade on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.