mealbhacán

Irish

Alternative forms

• mealbhucán (obsolete)

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin mēlopepō (“type of pumpkin”), from Ancient Greek μηλοπέπων (mēlopépōn), from μῆλον (mêlon, “apple”) + πέπων (pépōn, “ripe”). Assimilated to the suffix -acán.

Noun

mealbhacán m (genitive singular mealbhacáin, nominative plural mealbhacáin)

1. wild carrot
2. melon
3. (obsolete) cucumber

Declension

Declension of mealbhacán

First declension

Bare forms: Case Singular Plural Nominative mealbhacán mealbhacáin Vocative a mhealbhacáin a mhealbhacána Genitive mealbhacáin mealbhacán Dative mealbhacán mealbhacáin

Forms with the definite article: Case Singular Plural Nominative an mealbhacán na mealbhacáin Genitive an mhealbhacáin na mealbhacán Dative leis an mealbhacán don mhealbhacán leis na mealbhacáin

Derived terms

• mealbhacán uisce (“watermelon”)
• buidéal mealbhacáin

Mutation

Irish mutation
Radical	Lenition	Eclipsis
mealbhacán	mhealbhacán	not applicable
Note: Some of these forms may be hypothetical. Not every possible mutated form of every word actually occurs.

Further reading

• Ó Dónaill, Niall (1977), “mealbhacán”, in Foclóir Gaeilge–Béarla, Dublin: An Gúm, →ISBN
• “melon”, in New English-Irish Dictionary, Foras na Gaeilge, 2013–2023
• G. Toner, M. Ní Mhaonaigh, S. Arbuthnot, D. Wodtko, M.-L. Theuerkauf, editors (2019), “melbucán”, in eDIL: Electronic Dictionary of the Irish Language
• Entries containing “mealbhacán” in English-Irish Dictionary, An Gúm, 1959, by Tomás de Bhaldraithe.
• Entries containing “mealbhacán” in New English-Irish Dictionary by Foras na Gaeilge.