melon
[mel-uh n]
- the fruit of any of various plants of the gourd family, as the muskmelon or watermelon.
- medium crimson or deep pink.
- the visible upper portion of the head of a surfacing whale or dolphin, including the beak, eyes, and blowhole.
- Informal.
- a large extra dividend, often in the form of stock, to be distributed to stockholders: Profits zoomed so in the last quarter that the corporation cut a nice melon.
- any windfall of money to be divided among specified participants.
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Origin of melon
1350–1400; Middle English < Late Latin mēlōn- (stem of mēlō), short for mēlopepō < Greek mēlopépōn apple-shaped melon, equivalent to mêlo(n) apple + pépōn pepo
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for melon
Contemporary Examples
But how could they bronze that stubby little body, the melon head, the double chin?
Rachel “Bunny” Melon wanted John to be the next president so he could “rescue America.”
Trim trousers in nubby shades of lilac were paired with jackets in iridescent hues of melon.
Paris Fall 2012 Fashion Week: Haider Ackermann, Lanvin, and Comme des GarçonsRobin Givhan
March 4, 2012
Meanwhile he hid a note in a piece of melon and gave it to a young Jew.
Historical Examples
You can't always tell by the looks of a melon what's inside it, my son.
Old Man CurryCharles E. (Charles Emmett) Van Loan
The melon capital was probably not in use after the sixth century.
Byzantine Churches in ConstantinopleAlexander Van Millingen
You 'll send me a melon, at least, of my own raising, won't you?
BarringtonCharles James Lever
He had been reading an article on Nestorianism when the melon was brought in.
There she stopped, and, turning, extended her hands for the melon.
Hooking WatermelonsEdward Bellamy
melon
- any of several varieties of two cucurbitaceous vines, cultivated for their edible fruitSee muskmelon, watermelon
- the fruit of any of these plants, which has a hard rind and juicy flesh
- cut a melon US and Canadian slang to declare an abnormally high dividend to shareholders
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Word Origin
C14: via Old French from Late Latin mēlo, shortened form of mēlopepō, from Greek mēlopepōn, from mēlon apple + pepōn gourd
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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Word Origin and History for melon
n.
late 14c., from Old French melon (13c.), from Medieval Latin melonem (nominative melo), from Latin melopeponem, a kind of pumpkin, from Greek melopepon "gourd-apple" (name for several kinds of gourds bearing sweet fruit), from melon "apple" (see malic) + pepon, a kind of gourd, probably noun use of pepon "ripe" (see pumpkin).
In Greek, melon was used in a generic way for all foreign fruits (cf. similar use of apple). The Greek plural of "melon" was used from ancient times for "a girl's breasts."
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper