מקורBorrowed from Old Persian [script needed] (turung), from Sanskrit मातुलुङ्ग (mātuluṅga), ultimately from Dravidian. Compare Persian ترنج (toronj), Turkish turunç, Arabic تُرُنْج (turunj), أُتْرُجّ (ʔutrujj), Aramaic תְּרוֹגָא (tərōḡā), אֶתְרוֹגָא (ʾeṯrōḡā), Tamil மாதுளம் (mātuḷam), மாதுளங்காய் (mātuḷaṅkāy, “pomegranate, citron lemon”).
Political meaning comes from the custom of using etrogs for the holiday of Sukkot, during which they are often kept safe in a rigid container, but after which they are often discarded.
- citron (the fruit of a citron tree)
“מִיַּד הַתִּינוֹקוֹת שׁוֹמְטִין אֶת לוּלְבֵיהֶן וְאוֹכְלִין אֶתְרוֹגֵיהֶן.” — Immediately, the children would release their palm branches and eat their citrons.
“אָמַר שְׁמוּאֵל כׇּל הָאוֹמֵר אֶתְרוּנְגָּא תִּילְתָּא בְּרָמוּת רוּחָא אוֹ אֶתְרוֹג כִּדְקַרְיוּהּ רַבָּנַן אוֹ אֶתְרוֹגָא דְּאָמְרִי אִינָשֵׁי” — Said Shmuel: All who call a citron an etrunga have a third of a measure of haughtiness. Either call it an etrog, as the rabbis call it, or an etroga, as the people do.
- In Israeli politics, a politician whom journalists refrain from criticizing until after a certain date or issue has passed.
צורותאֶתְרוֹג(canonical, masculine) · etróg(romanization) · אֶתְרוֹגִים(indefinite, plural) · אֶתְרוֹג־(construct, singular) · אֶתְרוֹגֵי־(construct, plural) · אֶתְרוֹג(indefinite, singular) · אֶתְרוֹגִי(feminine, first-person, masculine, possessed-form, singular) · אֶתְרוֹגֵנוּ(feminine, first-person, masculine, plural, possessed-form) · הָאֶתְרוֹג(definite, singular) · אֶתְרוֹגְךָ(masculine, possessed-form, second-person, singular) · אֶתְרוֹגֵךְ(feminine, possessed-form, second-person, singular) · אֶתְרוֹגְכֶם(masculine, plural, possessed-form, second-person) · אֶתְרוֹגְכֶן(feminine, plural, possessed-form, second-person) · אֶתְרוֹגוֹ(masculine, possessed-form, singular, third-person) · אֶתְרוֹגָהּ(feminine, possessed-form, singular, third-person) · אֶתְרוֹגָם(masculine, plural, possessed-form, third-person) · אֶתְרוֹגָן(feminine, plural, possessed-form, third-person) · אתרוגיי(feminine, first-person, masculine, possessed-form, singular) · אֶתְרוֹגַי(feminine, first-person, masculine, possessed-form, singular) · אֶתְרוֹגֵינוּ(feminine, first-person, masculine, plural, possessed-form)