/kan"tl ohp'/ , n.
1. a variety of melon, Cucumis melo cantalupensis, of the gourd family, having a hard scaly or warty rind, grown in Europe, Asia, and the United States.
2. a muskmelon having a reticulated rind and pale-orange flesh.
Also, cantaloup .
[ 1730-40; Cantaluppi, a papal estate near Rome where cultivation of this melon is said to have begun in Europe, though a comparable It word is not attested until much later than the F word, and Cantaloup, a village in Languedoc, has also been proposed as the source ]