marmalade

noun

mar·​ma·​lade ˈmär-mə-ˌlād 

: a clear sweetened jelly in which pieces of fruit and fruit rind are suspended

Examples of marmalade in a Sentence

a jar of orange marmalade

Recent Examples on the Web

Options include Sicilian tuna salad with marinated fennel and preserved lemon; chive goat cheese with mango-and-jalapeño jam, apples and cucumber; and smoked turkey with roasted red pepper, smoked Gouda, onion marmalade and chipotle mayo. —Stephanie Breijo, Los Angeles Times, 27 June 2024

Lilia proudly shows us jars of marmalades made from borojó, salak (snake fruit), arazá, and dried delights such as fruta chicle, the ‘chewing gum fruit’. —Juliet Kinsman, Condé Nast Traveler, 22 June 2024

For the Russian River selection, for example, the ice cream blends Supplication Ale — a year-aged beer that comes out once a year — with fudge, Manchego cheese and cherry marmalade. —John Metcalfe, The Mercury News, 13 June 2024

Warm the marmalade to loosen its consistency without bringing it to the boil, then strain the marmalade through a sieve and place the jelly back into the saucepan. —The Week Uk, theweek, 5 May 2024

Word History

Etymology

Middle English marmelat quince conserve, Portuguese marmelada, from marmelo quince, from Latin melimelum, a sweet apple, from Greek melimēlon, from meli honey + mēlon apple — more at mellifluous

First Known Use

circa 1676, in the meaning defined above

Kids Definition

marmalade

noun

mar·​ma·​lade ˈmär-mə-ˌlād 

: a clear jelly containing pieces of fruit and fruit rind

orange marmalade

Etymology

from Portuguese marmelada "jelly made from quince," from marmelo "quince," from Latin melimelum "sweet apple," from Greek melimēlon (same meaning), from meli "honey" and mēlon "apple"

Word Origin

Many of us have eaten orange marmalade, but marmalade can be made from any of several fruits. The Portuguese made such a jelly from the quince, a fruit that looks a bit like a yellow apple. The Portuguese word for the quince is marmelo, which is based on the Latin word melimelum, meaning "a sweet apple." The Portuguese called the jelly they made from the quince marmelada. English borrowed this word as marmalade.