noun
- 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.
noun
- 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
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.”