Origin and history of malic

common name of a strong-scented European plant long cultivated for its medicinal properties, c. 1300, camomille, from Old French camemile, from Late Latin camomilla, from Latin chamomilla, from Greek khamaimelon, etymologically "earth apple," from khamai "on the ground" (also "dwarf;" akin to khthōn "earth," from PIE root *dhghem- "earth") + mēlon "apple" (see malic). So called for its scent. Old English had it as camemalon.

Fowler (1927) writes that "Ca- is the literary & popular form; cha-, which represents the Latin & Greek spelling but has no chance of general acceptance, would be better abandoned in pharmacy also." But for once pessimism seems undue; British English kept the older spelling, American English favored the classically correct one, and on the internet the American spelling seems to have prevailed.

1530s, "preserve or confection of pulpy consistence made from quince," from French marmelade, from Portuguese marmelada "quince jelly, marmalade," from marmelo "quince," by dissimilation from Latin melimelum "sweet apple," originally "fruit of an apple tree grafted onto quince," from Greek melimelon, from meli "honey" (from PIE root *melit- "honey") + mēlon "apple" (see malic). Extended 17c. to any preserve or confection of pulpy consistence made from a citrus fruit. As a verb, "to spread with marmalade" by 1963. 

I marmaladed a slice of toast with something of a flourish, and I don't suppose I have ever come much closer to saying 'Tra-la-la' as I did the lathering. [P.G. Wodehouse, "Stiff Upper Lip, Jeeves"]

late 14c., meloun, "herbaceous, succulent trailing annual plant," or its sweet, edible fruit, from Old French melon (13c.) and directly from Medieval Latin melonem (nominative melo), from Latin melopeponem, a kind of pumpkin, from Greek mēlopepon "gourd-apple" (name for several kinds of gourds bearing sweet fruit), from mēlon "apple" (see malic) + pepon, a kind of gourd, which is probably a noun use of pepon "ripe" (see pumpkin).

Among the earliest plants to be domesticated. In Greek, melon was used in a generic way for all foreign fruits (compare similar use of apple). The Greek plural of "melon" was used from ancient times for "a girl's breasts."