melon

See also: Melon, melón, Melón, Mëlon, mełon, melɔn, and meˑlon
Languages (16)
English
Chavacano • Cornish • Danish • Esperanto • Finnish • French • Indonesian • Norwegian Bokmål • Norwegian Nynorsk • Old French • Polish • Romanian • Swedish • Tagalog • Welsh
Page categories

English

Pronunciation

Etymology 1

From Middle English meloun, melon, from Old French melon, from Late Latin melonem, from Latin melopeponem, from Ancient Greek μηλοπέπων (mēlopépōn), from μῆλον (mêlon, “apple”) + πέπων (pépōn, “ripe”).

Noun

melon (countable and uncountable, plural melons)

  1. (countable) Some of the plants of the family Cucurbitaceae grown for food, generally not including the cucumber.
    1. Genus Cucumis, the true melon (including various cultigens like honeydew and cantaloupes), the horned melon, and others.
    2. Genus Citrullus, the watermelon and others.
    3. Benincasa hispida, the winter melon.
    4. Momordica charantia, the bitter melon.
  2. (countable and uncountable) The large, round to ovoid fruits that have rinds and are of such plants.
    • 2000, Frank F[urlong] Mathias, “Camp Black Hawk and Carlisle Christianity”, in The GI Generation: A Memoir, Lexington, Ky.: University Press of Kentucky, →ISBN, page 198:
      The game was up and we began paddling furiously for the opposite shore. This caused Flora to shout all the louder: “Boy! Boys! Don’t let the melons get away. Keep the dadblasted things. If you don’t the whole pack of you will be back to plug and ruin another batch!” So we did, sitting down in a ravine out of sight of the scoutmaster. Red looked up, his florid, freckled face wet with melon, and grinned widely: “You know, fellers, I just don’t know what we’d do without Mr. Flora.” Red was to wind up watermelonless in the U.S. Navy!
    • 2010 July 5, Elaine Louie, “The Temporary Vegetarian: Grilled Watermelon and Tomato Salad”, in The New York Times‎[1], New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 6 July 2010:
      Six years ago, when Daniel Humm, the 33-year-old executive chef at Eleven Madison Park, was traveling in Barcelona, Spain, he discovered cooks grilling slices of melon and serving them at a tapas bar.
  3. (uncountable) A light pinkish orange color, like that of some melon flesh.
    melon:  
  4. (usually in the plural, slang) The breasts.
    • 1958, Thomas Berger, Crazy in Berlin:
      She indicated her left melon, underneath which lay the heart. “Because you stuck with me, and whether you ever said it or not, that is love.”
    • 2013, K. L. Brady, Got a Right to Be Wrong, page 107:
      “Wait a minute.” I said. “James with another woman? Mommy, that doesn't even sound right?” “It's true. I caught him squeezing her melons.”
  5. (countable, slang) The head, the brain.
    Think! Use your melon!
  6. (countable, Australia, New Zealand, derogatory) A member of the Green Party, or similar environmental group.
  7. (countable) A mass of adipose tissue found in the forehead of all toothed whales, used to focus and modulate vocalizations.
Synonyms
Hypernyms
Hyponyms
Derived terms
Descendants
  • → Cornish: melon
  • → Japanese: メロン
  • → Korean: 멜론 (mellon)
  • → Welsh: melon
  • ⇒ Tamil: முலாம்பழம் (mulāmpaḻam)
Translations

Adjective

melon

  1. Of a light pinkish orange color, like that of melon flesh.
Translations

See also

Etymology 2

Noun

melon (uncountable)

  1. Alternative form of mellon.

Anagrams

Chavacano

Etymology

Inherited from Spanish melón (“melon”).

Pronunciation

IPA(key): /meˈlon/ [me.ˈlon]

  • Rhymes: -on
  • Hyphenation: me‧lón

Noun

melón

  1. melon

Cornish

melonyow

Etymology

Borrowed from English melon.

Noun

melon m (plural melonyow)

  1. melon
    Synonym: pompyon hweg

Derived terms

  • melon dowr (“watermelon”)

Mutation

Mutation of melon
radical soft aspirate hard mixed
melon velon unchanged unchanged felon,
velon*

* after 'th
Note: Certain mutated forms of some words can never occur in standard Cornish.
All possible mutated forms are displayed for convenience.

Danish

Noun

melon c (singular definite melonen, plural indefinite meloner)

  1. melon

Declension

Declension of melon
common
gender 		singular plural
indefinite definite indefinite definite
nominative melon melonen meloner melonerne
genitive melons melonens meloners melonernes

Derived terms

References

Esperanto

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ˈmelon/
  • Audio:(file)
  • Rhymes: -elon
  • Syllabification: me‧lon

Noun

melon

  1. accusative singular of melo

Finnish

Verb

melon

  1. first-person singular present indicative of meloa

French

Etymology

Inherited from Old French melon, from Late Latin mēlōnem, shortening of Latin mēlopepō, from Ancient Greek μηλοπέπων (mēlopépōn, “melon”). More at English melon.

Pronunciation

Noun

melon m (plural melons)

  1. melon (fruit)

Derived terms

Further reading

Indonesian

Sebuah melon.

Etymology

Borrowed from English melon or Dialectical Dutch melone (compare Middle Dutch melone, whence Standard Dutch meloen), both from Middle French meloun, melon, from Old French melon, from Late Latin melonem, from Latin melopeponem (“type of pumpkin”), from Ancient Greek μηλοπέπων (mēlopépōn), from μῆλον (mêlon, “apple”) + πέπων (pépōn, “ripe”). Displaced earlier melun, which was borrowed from Dutch meloen.

Pronunciation

Noun

melon (plural melon-melon)

  1. muskmelon; cantaloupe (Cucumis melo subsp. melo)
    Synonym: (rare) kerahi

Derived terms

Further reading

Norwegian Bokmål

Noun

melon m (definite singular melonen, indefinite plural meloner, definite plural melonene)

  1. melon

Derived terms

References

Norwegian Nynorsk

Noun

melon m (definite singular melonen, indefinite plural melonar, definite plural melonane)

  1. melon

References

Old French

Etymology

From Late Latin mēlō, mēlōnem, shortening of Latin mēlopepō, from Ancient Greek μηλοπέπων (mēlopépōn, “melon”).

Noun

melon oblique singular, m (oblique plural melons, nominative singular melons, nominative plural melon)

  1. melon (fruit)
    • 1256, Aldebrandin de Sienne, Rég. du corps
      fera une decoction de violetes, de poumes de semence de cahoides, de melons, de citroles, d'ierbes froides
      (please add an English translation of this quotation)

Descendants

Polish

melony

Etymology

Learned borrowing from Late Latin mēlōnis.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ˈmɛ.lɔn/
  • Audio:(file)
  • Rhymes: -ɛlɔn
  • Syllabification: me‧lon
  • Homophone: Melon

Noun

melon m inan (diminutive melonik, related adjective melonowy)

  1. melon (any plant of the family Cucurbitaceae)
  2. melon (Cucumis melo)
    Synonym: ogórek melon
  3. melon (large, round to ovoid fruits that have rinds and are of such plants)
  4. (colloquial, humorous, chiefly in the plural) huge female breast
    Synonym: balon
  5. (colloquial) one million big ones (one million of any currency, especially PLN)
    Synonyms: bańka, duża bańka
  6. (cetology) melon (mass of adipose tissue found in the forehead of all toothed whales, used to focus and modulate vocalizations)

Declension

Declension of melon
singular plural
nominative melon melony
genitive melona melonów
dative melonowi melonom
accusative melon, melona melony
instrumental melonem melonami
locative melonie melonach
vocative melonie melony

Derived terms

nouns
adjectives
  • melonowcowaty

Further reading

  • “melon”, in Wielki słownik języka polskiego‎[2] (in Polish), Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
  • “melony”, in Wielki słownik języka polskiego‎[3] (in Polish), Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
  • “melon”, in Polish dictionaries at PWN‎[4] (in Polish)
  • melon in PWN's encyclopedia

Romanian

Etymology

    Borrowed from French melon.

    Noun

    melon n (plural meloane)

    1. bowler hat

    Declension

    singular plural
    indefinite definite indefinite definite
    nominative-accusative melon melonul meloane meloanele
    genitive-dative melon melonului meloane meloanelor
    vocative melonule meloanelor

    Swedish

    meloner (honungsmelon och nätmelon) [melons (canary melon and cantaloupe)]

    Etymology

    Borrowed from Italian melone, from Late Latin mēlō, mēlōnem.

    Pronunciation

    • IPA(key): /mɛlˈuːn/

    Noun

    melon c

    1. melon
    2. (slang) melon (breast)
      Schyssta meloner! ― Nice melons!

    Declension

    Declension of melon
    nominative genitive
    singular indefinite melon melons
    definite melonen melonens
    plural indefinite meloner meloners
    definite melonerna melonernas

    Derived terms

    References

    Tagalog

    Alternative forms

    Etymology

    Etymology tree
    Ancient Greek μῆλον (mêlon)
    Proto-Indo-European *pekʷ-
    Proto-Indo-European *-eti
    Proto-Indo-European *pékʷetider.
    Ancient Greek πέπων (pépōn)
    Koine Greek μηλοπέπων (mēlopépōn)bor.
    Latin mēlopepō
    Late Latin mēlōnem
    Spanish melónbor.
    Tagalog melon

      Borrowed from Spanish melón, from Late Latin mēlōnem, shortening of Latin mēlopepō, borrowed from Koine Greek μηλοπέπων (mēlopépōn), from Ancient Greek μῆλον (mêlon, “apple; tree fruit”) + πέπων (pépōn, “cooked by the sun, ripe; mellow”).

      Pronunciation

      • (Standard Tagalog) IPA(key): /meˈlon/ [mɛˈlon̪]
      • Rhymes: -on
      • Syllabification: me‧lon

      Noun

      melón (Baybayin spelling ᜋᜒᜎᜓᜈ᜔)

      1. melon

      Derived terms

      See also

      Further reading

      • “melon”, in KWF Diksiyonaryo ng Wikang Filipino, Komisyon sa Wikang Filipino, 2025
      • “milon”, in Pambansang Diksiyonaryo | Diksiyonaryo.ph, 2018
      • Serrano Laktaw, Pedro (1914), Diccionario tagálog-hispano [Tagalog-Spanish Dictionary] (overall work in Tagalog and Spanish), Intramuros, Manila: Ateneo de Manila., page 829

      Welsh

      Alternative forms

      • melwn

      Etymology

      Borrowed from English melon.

      Pronunciation

      • IPA(key): /ˈmɛlɔn/

      Noun

      melon m (plural melonau or melons)

      1. melon

      Mutation

      Mutated forms of melon
      radical soft nasal aspirate
      melon felon unchanged unchanged

      Note: Certain mutated forms of some words can never occur in standard Welsh.
      All possible mutated forms are displayed for convenience.

      Further reading

      • R. J. Thomas, G. A. Bevan, P. J. Donovan, A. Hawke, et al., editors (1950–present), “melon”, in Geiriadur Prifysgol Cymru Online (in Welsh), University of Wales Centre for Advanced Welsh & Celtic Studies
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