Honeydews

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A type of sweet and juicy fruit belonging to the melon family, typically pale greenish-yellow in color and with a smooth rind
2. A refreshing, succulent fruit known for its sweet flavor and high water content, often enjoyed fresh or in fruit salads
3. A cultivar of melon characterized by its round shape, sweet flesh, and smooth skin, commonly eaten raw or used in desserts

Etymology: The melon was named after a sticky substance that was once thought to fall from the sky. "Honeydew" joins "honey" and "dew," and the older sense is the one that matters: a sweet, sugary liquid believed to descend like rain onto leaves and plants. Many people in earlier centuries assumed this sweetness came from heaven, which is why the word carried that image for so long. The name's modern fruit sense is a later extension. The melon, with its round shape, pale smooth skin and sweet pale flesh, was given the name because of its honey-like taste, not because it resembles the dew itself. The same word also names the sugary secretion of aphids and certain insects that settles on leaves and that bees gather to make honeydew honey.

Synonyms: nectars, exudates, sap, sweet secretions, saps