Yes, even such a word as English-sounding as «pumpkin» comes from Latin. Actually, this is not exact 100%, in at least two ways… But let’s start from the beginning.
The English word «pumpkin» is made up of the root pump‑ and the suffix ‑kin. This suffix, meaning ‘a type of’, is of Germanic origin, but it is still related to the Latin word genus, generis.
Do you love classics? Are you interested in Latin? Would you like to receive cool emails about that stuff? I’m quite sure you would: join the newsletter! 📧
Now, the pump‑ part is derived from the Middle French pompon, which is a possible evolution from the Latin peponem (pepo, peponis), meaning ‘large melon’. But Latin itself borrowed it from the Greek πέπων (pépōn), related to the verb πέπτω (péptō ‘ripen’).
So, literally, a pumpkin is ‘a type of large melon’.
By the way, have you ever felt some weird similarity in the taste of melon and cucumber? Somehow, the Spaniards already thought of it, and it is from pepo, peponis that the Spanish pepino ‘cucumber’ comes.
