Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Melon \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}.