From Frenchcantaloup, from ItalianCantalupo(a place name), from Italiancanto + lupo, literally "howl of the wolf".
Named after Cantalupo in Sabina, a former Papal summer estate near Rome, where the melons were first grown after being introduced to Europe.[1]
Pronunciation
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(UK) IPA(key): /ˈkæn.tə.luːp/
(US) IPA(key): /ˈkæn.tə.loʊp/
Audio (General Australian):
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Audio (US,male voice):
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Audio (US,female voice):
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Noun
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cantaloupe (plural cantaloupes)
Cucumis melo Cantalupensis Group, a cultivar group melon with sweet aromatic orange flesh, including two main types:
(UK, Ireland) Cantalupensis Group sensu stricto, with non- or slightly netted rind, also known as true cantaloupe or European cantaloupe, found in the Middle East and Europe. [From 1739.]
(Australia, Canada, US) Reticulatus Group (now merged into Cantalupensis Group), with strongly netted rind, also known as American cantaloupe, muskmelon or rockmelon.
2010, Mary Ellen Snodgrass, Peter Carey: A Literary Companion, page 100:Trevor, like an Aussie outbacker, eats snacks and a pickup meal of bread, cantaloupe, olives, mangoes, and melon.
An orange colour, like that of cantaloupe flesh. cantaloupe:
(slang, usually in the plural) A woman's breasts, particularly large breasts. Distracted by the way that the sudden gust of wind exposed the girl's bare thighs, he tripped on the uneven sidewalk and faceplanted straight into her soft cantaloupes.
2022 [1951], David Goodis, “Cassidy's Girl”, in Black Cat Weekly[1], number 52, Wildside Press, LLC, page 324:"I tell you I kept crossing my legs and lighting cigarettes, just hoping he'd notice me. But no. Instead he notices something sitting at a table. He sees a great big pair of cantaloupes sticking out from under a blouse."
2007, Maryann Reid, Use Me or Lose Me: A Novel of Love, Sex, and Drama[2], Macmillan, page 130:In the water, Lenox got a little frisky and Farah ended up losing her bikini top. Lenox was glad that she was definitely blessed. The peaches and grapes walking around were no comparison to her cantaloupes.
2019, Louella Bryant, Cowboy Code[3], Black Rose Writing, page 110:"Suzie that one with the pair of cantaloupes?" Freddy holds his palms out from chest.
2020, Nicole Kronzer, “Eleven”, in Unscripted[4], Abrams:Stepping back to avoid him, I knocked into Xander, who wrapped his arms around me. "Me, too," he cooed. "I love a good pair of cantaloupes."
cantaloupe on Wikipedia.Wikipedia 