melancholy
/ˈmelənˌkɒli/MEH-luhn-ko-lee
/ˈmɛlənˌkɑli/MEH-luhn-kah-lee
Meaningblack bile
Common meaning: deep sadness
- melanblack, darkLiddell & Scott, Greek-English Lexicon (1883), p. 934 · scan
- cholbile, gallLiddell & Scott, Greek-English Lexicon (1883), p. 1732 · scan
- ynoun ending: study, state or act
‘black, dark’ + ‘bile, gall’ → melancholy
Journey through time
- melan — Greek μέλας, μέλανος “black, dark” (path traced)
- chol — Greek χολή “bile, gall” (path traced)
Parts join in Latin as melancholia.
- Greekμέλας, μέλανος + χολή‘black, dark + bile, gall’
- Latinmelancholia
- Frenchmelan
- Middle Englishmelancoliesource
- Englishmelancholy‘deep sadness’ · today
Sources & notes
Meaning: “Meaning” is the sense that emerges from the word’s roots; “Common meaning” is today’s everyday sense. Both written by us.
Pronunciation
- UK IPA: converted from the US form by rule (unchecked). Respelling: generated.
- No UK recording; the speaker uses your device’s en-GB voice.
- US IPA: CMUdict (BSD-2), converted to IPA by rule. Respelling: generated.
- No US recording; the speaker uses your device’s en-US voice.
Origin: Built on Greek μέλας ‘black, dark’ + Greek χολή ‘bile, gall’.
Did you know: our wording, based on Liddell & Scott, Greek-English Lexicon (1883), entry χολή, p. 1732 · dictionary scan
Roots
- μέλας, μέλανος Greek “black, dark”
- χολή Greek “bile, gall”
Related words
Building blocks are an automatic split · open in app