The return of Don Meerxote of Lemoencha

Afrikaans names for common citrus fruits are idiosyncratic, and a good example of how various languages influenced the "kitchen-Dutch creole that eventually became formalised as Afrikaans.

Although lemoen probably derived from the Dutch for lime, it refers to a (sweet) orange. The Dutch word limoen would have been used frequently aboard Dutch-East-India Company (VOC) trading ships.

Since a "limoen/lemoen" was now a sweet citrus, a lemon was identified as a "suurlemoen" (sour lemon), and a lime was given the diminutive form lemmetjie (small lem<oen>).

The name for soft-skinned / easy-peeler citrus came from the Tamil nārattai to become naartjie.

A "pomelo" is a grapefruit, the name probably being influenced primarily by the Dutch "pompelmoes" and the Portuguese "pomo-limão" (apple-lemon).