Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.
Definition: Watermelon |
WatermelonNoun1. An African melon. 2. Large oblong or roundish melon with a hard green rind and sweet watery red or occasionally yellowish pulp. Source: WordNet 1.7.1 Copyright © 2001 by Princeton University. All rights reserved. |
Date "watermelon" was first used in popular English literature: sometime before 1854. (references) |
| Domain | Definition |
Food & Agriculture | A large smooth green melon, Citrus lanatus, with red pulp and watery juice. Source: European Union. (references) |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)
The watermelon is a type of melon with a moist, sweet, usually red flesh. The flesh is generally eaten by slicing a piece, picking it up, and biting in. Watermelon has a very high water content, and can be used to satisfy thirst.
Watermelon
Larger watermelonScientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae Division: Magnoliophyta Class: Magnoliopsida Order: Violales Family: Cucurbitaceae Genus: Citrullus Species References Watermelons seeds are roasted by Asians. Pickled watermelon rind is also popular.
Until the 1940s, a good watermelon was rarely found in a grocery. Melon lovers had to grow their own, which, sadly, wouldn't keep for long.
Then a USDA plant breeder set out to produce a better watermelon. The result was "that gray melon from Charleston," formally called the Charleston Gray. Its oblong shape and hard rind made it easy to stack and ship. Its adaptability meant it could be grown over a wide geographical area. It produced high yields and was resistant to the most serious watermelon diseases, anthracnose and fusarium wilt. Best of all, it tasted terrific. Today, almost all watermelon varieties have some Charleston Gray in their lineage.
This common watermelon is large enough that groceries often sell half or quarter melons. There are also some smaller, spherical varieties of watermelon, both red- and yellow-fleshed. So-called "seedless" watermelons have far fewer, and softer, seeds than average, but generally contain at least a few whitish seeds.
For commercial plantings, one bee hive per acre is the minimum recommendation by the US Department of Agriculture for pollination of conventional seeded varieties. Seedless hybrids have sterile pollen and pollinizer rows of varieties with viable pollen must also be planted, and the pollinator populations increased to three hives per acre.
Watermelon Imagery
The watermelon slice is striking and unmistakable in appearance. In former times, African Americans were depicted in racist caricatures as being inordinately fond of watermelon. The image of the watermelon, allusions to eating watermelon, and so forth, may still be seen as offensive. The historical perspective is that watermelons are native to Africa, and their seeds and culture was brought to the US, and taught by Africans.
Food | List of fruits | List of vegetables Source: adapted by the editor from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia under a copyleft GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL) from the article "Watermelon."
Synonym: WatermelonSynonym: watermelon vine (n). (additional references) |
Crosswords: Watermelon |
| English words defined with "watermelon": Citron melon, Colocynth. (references) |
| Specialty definitions using "watermelon": CITRULLUS LANATUS, Commodity promotion programs ♦ Gastric Antral Vascular Ectasia ♦ Safeguards, import ♦ Watermelon Stomach. (references) |
| Domain | Usage | |
Screenplays | I carried a watermelon. (Dirty Dancing; writing credit: Eleanor Bergstein) Wow! The Watermelon Monster (Gui ma tian shi; writing credit: Arthur Lovegrove) All I need is a watermelon and two jelly donuts (Porky's; writing credit: Bob Clark) I didn't vanquish watermelon. I threw it up in the air and I tried to freeze it and it exploded (Charmed; writing credit: Colman deKay) Why is there a watermelon there (The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension; writing credit: Earl Mac Rauch) | |
Movie/TV Titles | Watermelon Man (1970) Farmer Al Falfa's Watermelon Patch (1916) The Pickaninnies and the Watermelon (1912) Watermelon Patch (1905) Who Said Watermelon (1903) | |
Song Titles | WATERMELON MAN (performing artist: Mongo Santamaria ) | |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | ||
| Domain | Title | ||
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Theater & Movies | |||
Music |
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High Tech |
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Consumer Goods | |||
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |||
| Thumbnail | Description & Credit | Thumbnail | Description & Credit |
 | (1) color slide of a slice of watermelon. Credit: Renee Comet (photographer). |  | From an overhead angle, a slice of watermelon, scattered grapes and popcorn kernels are shown on a yellow and black plaid tabletop. Diagonal black letters read: "Choose Low-fat Snacks". Shot on 4x5 format. This was used in the 1989 calendar "Eat for Good Health" September 1989. See artwork: PV-19. Credit: Bill Branson (photographer). |
 | An employee of the Joseph Fields Farm, shows Dwayne Mangum, NRCS District Conservationist, cuttings of a few of the crops such as cantaloupe, collards, tomatoes, and watermelon grown on the farm. Half of the farm’s crops are propagated in the greenhouse. Credit: Bob Nichols. |  | NRCS soil conservationist Juan Pena and landowner discuss needed conservation on watermelon croplands near Raymondville, TX. Harvested melons are being transferred from field wagons to trucks. {Slide 97CS3006]. Credit: Ken Hammond. |
 | Mississippi Ass'n of Cooperatives Executive Director, Ben Burkette, helps with watermelon harvest. Credit: USDA. |  | Watermelon. Credit: USDA. |
 | In the 1940's, along came a USDA plant breeder who set out to bring us a better watermelon. The result was "that gray melon from Charleston," formally called the Charleston Gray. Its oblong shape and hard rind made it easy to stack and ship. P. Credit: USDA ARS News; photo by Scott Bauer.. |  | GOP in the watermelon patch. Credit: Library of Congress. |
 | Watermelon. Credit: Library of Congress. |  | Watermelon Jake. Credit: Library of Congress. |
Source: pictures compiled by the editor from various references; see picture credits. | |||
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| "I'm your watermelon man?" by raznov Commentary: "Sure ya don't want some? it's only 2 bucks." | "Watermelon 3" by Bobbie Osborne Commentary: "*" |
Source: photographs selected by the editor, with permission from the photographers. | |
| Subject | Topic | Quote |
Economic History | Guatemala | Fruit seeds include cantaloupe, melon and watermelon. (references) |
Mexico | Michoacan is a world-leader in the production of avocados and also produces sorghum, wheat, sugar cane, beans, strawberry, watermelon, and mango. (references) | |
Source: compiled by the editor from ICON Group International, Inc.; see credits. | ||
| "Watermelon" is generally used as a noun (singular) -- approximately 87.50% of the time. "Watermelon" is used about 16 times out of a sample of 100 million words spoken or written in English. Its rank is based on over 700,000 words used in the English language. Some parts-of-speech are not covered due to the samples used by the British National Corpus. (note: percents less than one-hundredth of one percent have been omitted) |
| Parts of Speech | Percent | Usage per 100 Million Words | Rank in English |
| Noun (singular) | 87.5% | 14 | 93,893 |
| Noun (proper) | 6.25% | 1 | 339,140 |
| Noun (common) | 6.25% | 1 | 339,140 |
| Total | 100.00% | 16 | N/A |
Source: compiled by the editor from several corpora; see credits.
Expressions using "watermelon": watermelon begonia ♦ watermelon juice ♦ watermelon seed ♦ Watermelon Stomach ♦ watermelon vine. Additional references. | |
| Hyphenated Usage | |
Beginning with "watermelon": watermelon-pink, watermelon-shaped. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| The following statistics estimate the number of searches per day across the major English-language search engines as identified by various trade publications. Hyperlinks lead to commercial use of the expression at Amazon.com. |
| Language | Translations for "watermelon"; alternative meanings/domain in parentheses. | |
Albanian | shalqi. (various references) | |
Arabic | بطيخ (water melon). (various references) | |
Blackfoot | ómahkotsskoi'nssimaan. (various references) | |
Bulgarian | любеница, диня (water melon). (various references) | |
Chamorro | chandiha. (various references) | |
Chinese | 西瓜 . (various references) | |
Czech | vodní meloun (water melon). (various references) | |
Danish | vandmeloner. (various references) | |
Dutch | watermeloenen. (various references) | |
Farsi | هندوانه (Melon). (various references) | |
Finnish | vesimeloni (water-melon). (various references) | |
French | pastèques, pastèque (water melon), melon d'eau (water melon, water-melon). (various references) | |
German | Wassermelone (water melon, water-melon). (various references) | |
Greek | καρπούζι (water melon). (various references) | |
Hebrew | אבטיח (pumpkin, water melon). (various references) | |
Hungarian | görögdinnye (water melon). (various references) | |
Indonesian | semangka (cantaloupe). (various references) | |
Italian | anguria (water melon). (various references) | |
Japanese Kanji | 西瓜 , ウェーバーの法則 (on-deck batter's circle, rag, taking a pitch, wafer, wafers, waist, waist bag, waist nipper, waist pouch, waistcoat, waistline, wait, waiter, waiting circle, waiting game, waiting room, waiting system, waitress, Wales, walk rally, walk through, walkathon, walkie-lookie, walkie-talkie, walking dictionary, walking shoes, Walkman, war cry, war game, ware, -ware, warehouse, warm, warming, warming-up, warm-up, warning lamp, waste ball, water chute, water closet, water hazard, water polo, watercolor, watercooler, waterfall, waterfront, waterproof, watertight, wave, wave-front, way, weapon, wear, weather, weathercock, weatherstrip molding, web, Weber, Weber's law, wedding, wedding bell, wedding cake, wedding dress, wedding march, wedding ring, wedding veil, wedeling, wedge heel, wedge sole, weight, weight lifting, weight training, welcome, well-done, west, West Coast, West End, West Point, West Side, West Virginia, western, Western grip, Western league, Western music, Westinghouse, wet, wet core, wet cut, wet suit, worm gear). (various references) | |
Japanese Katakana | すいか (asking a person's identity, being pendent, challenging, drowning, fire and water, flood disaster, hanging down, hydration), ウォーターメロン . (various references) | |
Korean | 수박. (various references) | |
Mohawk | onon'onhserakahte. (various references) | |
Papago | gepi. (various references) | |
Pig Latin | atermelonway.(various references) | |
Portuguese | melancias, melancia (water-melon). (various references) | |
Romanian | pepene verde (melon, water melon). (various references) | |
Romany | hurboozoo. (various references) | |
Russian | арбуз (melon, water-melon). (various references) | |
Sepedi | legapu. (various references) | |
Serbo-Croatian | lubenica (water melon). (various references) | |
Shona | mwiwa. (various references) | |
Spanish | sandia (water melon), sandías, sandía, de sandía. (various references) | |
Swazi | lú-hwabha. (various references) | |
Swedish | vattenmelon (water melon). (various references) | |
Turkish | karpuz (water melon). (various references) | |
Turkmen | garpyz. (various references) | |
Ukrainian | кавун. (various references) | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various translation references. | ||
| Language | Period | Translations |
| Latin | 500 BCE-Modern | CITRULLUS LANATUS, pepones. (various references) |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | ||
Derivations | |
Words beginning with "watermelon": watermelons. (additional references) | |
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"Watermelon" is suggested in spellcheckers for the following: watermellon. (additional references) | |
| Source: compiled by the editor, based on several corpora (additional references). | |
| # of Phoneme Matches | Pronunciation | Word(s) rhyming with "watermelon" (pronounced wô"terme'lun) |
| 5 | -m e' l u n | muskmelon. |
| 3 | -l u n | fallen, felon, adrenaline, Alan, Ballon, befallen, Billon, bouillon, Callan, Chamberlain, chaplain, colon, crestfallen, discipline, elan, gallon, globulin, gremlin, insulin, javelin, kaolin, Kremlin, lanolin, Magdalen, Marlin, masculine, melon, Mullen, muslin, pelon, penicillin, pentathlon, phenolphthalein, pollen, porcelain, solan, Solon, stolen, stollen, sullen, swollen, talon, Tolan, triathlon, vanillin, villain, woolen, woollen, Zeppelin. |
Source: compiled by the editor (additional references); see credits. | ||
Scrabble® Enable2K-Verified Anagrams | |
| Words within the letters "a-e-e-l-m-n-o-r-t-w" | |
-2 letters: lamenter, treelawn, watermen. | |
-3 letters: almoner, eelworm, enteral, eternal, lomenta, omental, renewal, telamon, teleman, teleran, tonearm. | |
-4 letters: almner, antler, areole, armlet, atoner, atween, elater, emoter, enamel, enamor, entera, erenow, etalon, lament, lateen, lawmen, leaner, learnt, loaner, loment, mantel, mantle, marten, matron, meaner, melter, melton, mental, mentor, merlon, merlot, meteor, mewler, moaner, molten, molter, morale. | |
| Words containing the letters "a-e-e-l-m-n-o-r-t-w" | |
+1 letter: watermelons. | |
+5 letters: blameworthiness. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. SCRABBLE® is a registered trademark. All intellectual property rights in and to the game are owned in the U.S.A and Canada by Hasbro Inc., and throughout the rest of the world by J.W. Spear & Sons Limited of Maidenhead, Berkshire, England, a subsidiary of Mattel Inc. Mattel and Spear are not affiliated with Hasbro. | |
| 1. Definition 2. Synonyms 3. Crosswords 4. Usage: Modern | 5. Usage: Commercial 6. Images: Slideshow 7. Images: Photo Album 8. Images: Digital Art | 9. Quotations: Non-fiction 10. Usage Frequency 11. Expressions 12. Expressions: Internet | 13. Translations: Modern 14. Translations: Ancient 15. Derivations 16. Rhymes | 17. Anagrams 18. Bibliography |
Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.
