Link Centre Dictionary

melancholy

me·lanc·holy

UK/ˈmɛlənkəli/ US/ˈmɛlənk(ə)lɪj/ fairly common literary
noun (3) adjective (1)

noun

1.
2.
3.

a humor that was once believed to be secreted by the kidneys or spleen and to cause sadness and melancholy

Synonyms

adjective

1.

characterized by or causing or expressing sadness

  • “growing more melancholy every hour”
  • “her melancholic smile”
  • “we acquainted him with the melancholy truth”
Synonyms
Similar

Origin

From Middle English malencolie, from Old French melancolie, from Ancient Greek μελαγχολία (melankholía, “atrabiliousness”) (from μέλας (mélas), μελαν- (melan-, “black, dark, murky”) + χολή (kholḗ, “bile”)), referring to the humour which ancient Hippocratic and later Galenic medicine associated with sadness and despondency. Compare the Latin ātra bīlis (“black bile”). The adjectival use is a Middle English innovation, perhaps influenced by the suffixes -y, -ly. Doublet of melancholia.

Phrases

  • melancholy thistle

Related words

Word family

Broader terms

Narrower terms

WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.