watermelon
Meaning
a large, round or oval fruit with a hard green skin, sweet, juicy red or pink flesh, and black seeds.
Structure
Usage
we chilled a whole watermelon in the fridge for the picnic.
the children's faces were sticky with watermelon juice.
he carefully cut the watermelon into neat slices.
Etymology
The word watermelon is a transparent compound formed from two English words, water and melon. The first element, water, descriptively highlights the fruit's exceptionally high water content and juicy texture, distinguishing it from other melons. The second element, melon, originates from Latin melo, a shortening of melopepo, which itself derives from Greek mēlopepōn, meaning an apple-shaped melon. Thus, the term's literal logic is "a melon characterized by its watery juice," a straightforward naming convention based on a prominent physical property.
Analysis
water (from old english wæter, meaning water; functional role: descriptive element). melon (from latin melo, via old french; meaning melon, gourd; functional role: core noun).