clementine tree

5.1

A small tree that grows sweet, easy-to-peel oranges often ready in winter

noun
/ˈklɛmənˌtaɪn tri/

: clementino

The clementine tree in her backyard produces sweet fruit each winter.

Examples

Farmers in Spain cultivate the clementine tree for export to European markets.
A mature clementine tree can yield hundreds of oranges in a single season.
The clementine tree is thriving in the garden.
I planted a clementine tree last spring.
Farmers in Spain cultivate the clementine tree for export to European markets.
A mature clementine tree can yield hundreds of oranges in a single season.
The clementine tree in her backyard produces sweet fruit each winter.

Synonyms

orange tree

vsclementine tree

4 1.0

A tree that grows round sweet fruit you can eat

is a smaller sweeter variety used for fresh eating rather than larger genus fruits

tangerine tree

vsclementine tree

3.3

A small evergreen tree that produces sweet orange fruit like mandarins

is grown mainly around the Mediterranean and in South Africa rather than widely

mandarin orange tree

vsclementine tree

3.5

A small tree from Southeast Asia that grows sweet, easy-to-peel orange fruit

is a Mediterranean-grown variety rather than the broader Asian native group

Surface Forms

clementine tree singular

clementine trees plural

Morphology

clementine + tree

The meaning 'a tree that produces clementines' is directly and compositionally derived from 'clementine' (a small sweet mandarin) + 'tree' (a plant), following a common noun+noun naming pattern. This construction is cross-linguistically typical and fully predictable for a learner who knows both constituent words, so it will be immediately understandable at B1.

Etymology

The name clementine tree may come from a French priest, Father Clément Rodier, who found a very sweet small orange growing in his garden in Algeria. People started to call the fruit a 'clementine', so a clementine tree means a tree that grows those small sweet oranges.