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From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:
Melon \Mel"on\ (m[e^]l"[u^]n), noun [F., fr. L. melo, for melopepo an apple-shaped melon, Gr. mhlope'pwn; mh^lon apple + pe'pwn 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. {Melocactus 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}.
From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:
melon
noun
1: any of numerous fruits of the gourd family having a hard rind and sweet juicy flesh
2: any of various fruit of cucurbitaceous vines including: muskmelons; watermelons; cantaloupes; cucumbers [syn: {melon vine}]
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