Editing Kiwifruit (section)

==Etymology==

Early varieties were discovered and cultivated in China. Common Chinese names for the fruit prior to the 20th century include {{translit|zh|míhóutáo}} ({{lang-zh|c=獼猴桃}}, {{gloss|macaque peach}}), {{translit|zh|húlítáo}} ({{lang-zh|c=狐狸桃}}, {{gloss|fox peach}}), {{translit|zh|ténglí}} ({{lang-zh|c=藤梨}}, {{gloss|vine pear}}) and {{lang|zh|yángtáo}} ({{lang-zh|c=羊桃}}, {{gloss|sheep peach}}).<ref name="Kiwifruit2023">{{cite Q|Q133308627}}</ref><ref name="TamarilloKiwifruit2020">{{cite Q|Q133513057}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal| volume = 7| issue = 1| pages = 1–6| last1 = 徐宏化| last2 = 魏芳| last3 = 杨娜| last4 = 赵佳| last5 = 杨嘉辉| last6 = 吕素华| title = 奇异水果猕猴桃--起源, 栽培和应用| journal = Horticulture| date = 2017}}</ref> Among the early English language names for the fruit were yangtao, the name that was in popular use in the [[Yangtze River]] valley areas of central China, Wilson's gooseberry (after British plant collector [[Ernest Henry Wilson]]), gooseberry vine, and Ichang gooseberry, the latter referring to [[Yichang]], a port city in [[Hubei]] province.<ref name="TamarilloKiwifruit2020"/> The first known reference to the name Chinese gooseberry comes from 1917 in New Zealand, but it is likely that the name was in use before this time. By the 1920s, Chinese gooseberry became the standard name for the fruit in English until the 1950s.<ref name="TamarilloKiwifruit2020"/> In modern-day Chinese, the fruit is often referred to as {{translit|zh|qíyìguǒ}} ({{lang-zh|c=奇異果}}), a transliteration from English.<ref>{{Cite book| publisher = Routledge| pages = 92–104| last = Depner| first = Shelley Ching-yu| title = The Routledge handbook of Chinese applied linguistics| chapter = Chinese language and fruits| date = 2019}}</ref>

In 1959, Turners & Growers, a major New Zealand exporter, began calling it "kiwifruit" after being advised by a United States client, Norman Sondag, that products with the name gooseberry may have been having difficulty passing through [[quarantine]]. Sondag believed that quarantine officials were more suspicious of [[Ribes uva-crispa|European gooseberries]] and other berry shipments, due to fears that berries that were grown closer to the ground could come into contact with soil contaminated with [[anthrax]]-causing ''[[Bacillus anthracis]]'', something that was not an issue with kiwifruit.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.sbs.com.au/food/the-cook-up-with-adam-liaw/article/how-did-the-chinese-kiwifruit-end-up-with-a-maori-name/uho5zagxe |title=How did the Chinese kiwifruit end up with a Māori name? |date=7 September 2021 |first=Thanh |last=Truong |website=SBS |access-date=13 May 2025}}</ref><ref name="TamarilloKiwifruit2020"/><ref name="Time">{{Cite magazine|last=Lui|first=Kevin|date=8 February 2017|title=How the Chinese Gooseberry Became the Kiwifruit|url=https://time.com/4662293/kiwifruit-chinese-gooseberry-new-zealand-history-fruit/|access-date=9 November 2021|magazine=[[Time (magazine)|TIME]]|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=The history of the naming of the kiwifruit|last=Turner|first=Jack|url=https://www.epictepuke.co.nz/explore/posts/1313194-the-history-of-the-naming-of-kiwifruit-by-jac?page=posts&tc=795618|publisher=EPIC Te Puke, New Zealand |access-date=15 January 2025 |date=1 September 2024}}</ref> The name ''kiwifruit'' was coined by Jack Turner of Turners & Growers, referencing [[Kiwi (nickname)|kiwi]], an informal name used to describe New Zealanders, which Turner felt that United States servicemen stationed in the Pacific during World War II would have fond associations with.<ref name="TamarilloKiwifruit2020"/> The name was first registered by Turners & Growers on 15 June 1959,<ref name="Time" /> and by 1970, all exports from New Zealand used the name kiwifruit.<ref name="TamarilloKiwifruit2020"/>

Numerous myths are associated with the naming of kiwifruit, including that it is a reference to New Zealand's furry, brown, national bird &ndash; the [[kiwi (bird)|kiwi]], or that the name Chinese gooseberry was replaced in response to [[Anti-Chinese sentiment in the United States]].<ref name="TamarilloKiwifruit2020"/>

In New Zealand and Australia, the word ''kiwi'' alone either refers to the bird or is used as a [[Kiwi (nickname)|nickname for New Zealanders]].<ref name=Time/><ref name="latimes" /><ref name="The New Zealand Oxford Dictionary">{{cite book|last1=Deverson|first1=Tony|last2=Kennedy|first2=Graeme|title=The New Zealand Oxford Dictionary|date=2005|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-558451-6|ref=NZoxforddictionary2005|doi=10.1093/acref/9780195584516.001.0001}}</ref> Kiwifruit has since become a common name for all commercially grown kiwifruit from the genus ''Actinidia''.<ref name="Morton">{{cite web|url=http://www.hort.purdue.edu/newcrop/morton/kiwifruit_ars.html|title=Kiwifruit: ''Actinidia deliciosa'' In: Fruits of Warm Climates, 1987|publisher=Center for New Crops & Plant Products at Purdue University|author=Morton J|year=2011|access-date=8 April 2014}}</ref> In the United States and Canada, the shortened name ''kiwi'' is commonly used when referring to the fruit.<ref>{{cite web |author1=Bernadine C. Strik |author2=Amanda J. Davis |title=Growing kiwifruit |url=https://catalog.extension.oregonstate.edu/sites/catalog/files/project/pdf/pnw507.pdf |publisher=Extension Service, Oregon State University |access-date=7 April 2021 |date=1 March 2021 |archive-date=24 August 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200824155835/https://catalog.extension.oregonstate.edu/sites/catalog/files/project/pdf/pnw507.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Northern kiwi |url=http://www.omafra.gov.on.ca/CropOp/en/spec_fruit/vine_fruit/kiwi.html |publisher=Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs |access-date=7 April 2021 |date=17 October 2012}}</ref>