sandilla

English

Etymology

A respelling of Spanish sandía (“watermelon”) on the assumption it contains the Spanish diminutive suffix -illa.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /sænˈdiː(j)ə/
• Rhymes: -iːə

Noun

sandilla (plural sandillas)

1. (Southern California, obsolete) A watermelon.
   • 1852, “A Peruvian Omnibus”, in Charles Hale, editor, To-Day: A Boston Literary Journal‎^[1], volume 2, page 91:

     Two other persons, swarthy and ferocious as Bedouins, and naked as Lazzaroni, were crouching in the dirt, and sharing a sandilla (water-melon), the scarlet slices of which they ate in company; […]

   • 1881, Horace Bell, Reminiscences of a Ranger or, Early Times in Southern California‎^[2], page 210:

     Maj. McKinstry, commanding the United States post at San Diego, charitably marched to the rescue and kindly took the government of the twin republics in out of the cold, and bade Hercules Melendez go home and be a good boy, cultivate sandillas and have an ever open eye for jerked beef.

   • 1884, Holger Birkedal, “Perú, Bolivia, and Chile”, in The Overland Monthly (2)‎^[3], volume 4, page 184:

     Beans constitute an important food for the people at large. Maize, potatoes, roots, and vegetables of every description, melons of sweet flavor (the sandilla, or watermelon, especially) are cultivated in the so-called chacaras, or small rain in the season.

   • 1909 January 17, “Editorial Points”, in The Los Angeles Times‎^[4], part II, page 4:

     Besides the regular dividends the neat and interesting job of occasionally carving a surplus sandilla is performed, and the metallic chink of the resulting proceeds in the stockholder’s pocket gives forth a highly melonious sound.