Rockmelon

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A sweet orange-fleshed fruit with a rough, netted rind often called cantaloupe ; in some regions, an alternative term for this melon variety
2. A type of melon characterized by its fragrant, orange interior and reticulated surface ; also referred to as cantaloupe in many countries
3. An edible gourd with a distinctive netted skin and sweet, aromatic orange pulp ; commonly known as cantaloupe in several parts of the world

Etymology: Rockmelon is a compound of "rock" and "melon", and the "rock" element refers to the melon's rough, netted skin rather than to stone. The name is used mainly in Australia and New Zealand for the orange-fleshed sweet melon that Americans and Britons more often call a cantaloupe. A melon with a warty, ridged or scaly rind is the kind of fruit people in those regions have long picked out as a rock-like melon, and the compound is a plain descriptive coinage of that kind. The word is transparent in a way many fruit names are not. Its two parts do exactly what they say, so there is no older sense to recover and no change of meaning to trace. What the compound does show is how a single fruit can be named by its texture in one variety of English and by its origin or shape in another.

Synonyms: cantaloupe, muskmelon, melon