Wordwyrt

melodious

/məˈləʊdiəs/muh-LOH-dee-uhs
/məˈloʊdiəs/muh-LOH-dee-uhs

Meaningfull of melody

Common meaning: tuneful and pleasant to hear

‘song, tune (Greek melos)’ + ‘a song, a sung poem’ → melodious

Journey through time

  1. Proto-Indo-European*wad-‘speak, recite, sing’source
  2. Greekᾠδή‘a song, a sung poem’
  3. Latinmelodia
  4. Old Frenchmelodiesource
  5. Middle Englishmelodiesource
  6. Englishmelody‘a sequence of notes’
  7. Englishformed in English from melodymelodious‘tuneful and pleasant to hear’ · 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: Formed in English from melody + -ous.

Dictionary: Skeat (1898), MELODY, p.362 · scan

Roots

  • ᾠδή Greek “a song, a sung poem”

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