Melon word meaning and definition

[noun] any of numerous fruits of the gourd family having a hard rind and sweet juicy flesh
[noun] any of various fruit of cucurbitaceous vines including: muskmelons; watermelons; cantaloupes; cucumbers

\Mel"on\, n. [F., fr. L. melo, for melopepo an apple-shaped melon, Gr. ?; ? apple + ? a species of large melon; cf. L. malum apple. Cf. {Marmalade}.] 1. (Bot.) The juicy fruit of certain cucurbitaceous plants, as the muskmelon, watermelon, and citron melon; also, the plant that produces the fruit. 2. (Zo["o]l.) A large, ornamental, marine, univalve shell of the genus {Melo}. {Melon beetle} (Zo["o]l.), a small leaf beetle ({Diabrotiea vittata}), which damages the leaves of melon vines. {Melon cactus}, {Melon thistle}.
(a) (Bot.) A genus of cactaceous plants ({Melocactus}) having a fleshy and usually globose stem with the surface divided into spiny longitudinal ridges, and bearing at the top a prickly and woolly crown in which the small pink flowers are half concealed. {M. communis}, from the West Indies, is often cultivated, and sometimes called {Turk's cap}.
(b) The related genus {Mamillaria}, in which the stem is tubercled rather than ribbed, and the flowers sometimes large. See Illust. under {Cactus}.

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