Melancholy - Definitions from Dictionary.com

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Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This

mel·an·chol·y

Audio Help [mel-uh

n-kol-ee] Pronunciation Key noun, plural -chol·ies, adjective

–noun

1.	a gloomy state of mind, esp. when habitual or prolonged; depression.

2.	sober thoughtfulness; pensiveness.

Archaic.

a.	the condition of having too much black bile, considered in ancient and medieval medicine to cause gloominess and depression.

b.	black bile.

–adjective

4.	affected with, characterized by, or showing melancholy; mournful; depressed: a melancholy mood.

5.	causing melancholy or sadness; saddening: a melancholy occasion.

6.	soberly thoughtful; pensive.

[Origin: 1275–1325; ME melancholie < LL melancholia < Gk melancholía condition of having black bile, equiv. to melan- melan- + chol() bile + -ia -ia

]

—Related forms

mel·an·chol·i·ly, adverb

mel·an·chol·i·ness, noun

—Synonyms 1. sadness, dejection, despondency. 2. seriousness. 4. gloomy, despondent, blue, dispirited, sorrowful, dismal, doleful, glum, downcast. 6. serious.

—Antonyms 1. cheer, happiness. 5. happy.

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.

Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
Melancholy

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American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

mel·an·chol·y Audio Help (měl'ən-kŏl'ē) Pronunciation Key
n.

Sadness or depression of the spirits; gloom: "There is melancholy in the wind and sorrow in the grass" (Charles Kuralt).
Pensive reflection or contemplation.
Archaic
1. Black bile.
2. An emotional state characterized by sullenness and outbreaks of violent anger, believed to arise from black bile.

adj.

Affected with or marked by depression of the spirits; sad. See Synonyms at sad.
Tending to promote sadness or gloom: a letter with some melancholy news.
Pensive; thoughtful.

[Middle English melancolie, from Old French, from Late Latin melancholia, from Greek melankholiā : melās, melan-, black + kholē, bile; see ghel-² in Indo-European roots.]

mel'an·chol'i·ly adv., mel'an·chol'i·ness n.

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The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

Online Etymology Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
melancholy (n.)

c.1303, "condition characterized by sullenness, gloom, irritability," from O.Fr. melancholie, from L.L. melancholia, from Gk. melankholia "sadness," lit. "black bile," from melas (gen. melanos) "black" (see melanin) + khole "bile" (see Chloe). Medieval physiology attributed depression to excess of "black bile," a secretion of the spleen and one of the body's four "humors." Adj. sense of "sullen, gloomy" is from 1526; sense of "deplorable" (of a fact or state of things) is from 1710.

WordNet - Cite This Source - Share This

melancholy
adjective
1.	characterized by or causing or expressing sadness; "growing more melancholy every hour"; "her melancholic smile"; "we acquainted him with the melancholy truth"
2.	grave or even gloomy in character; "solemn and mournful music"; "a suit of somber black"; "a somber mood" [syn: somber]
noun
1.	a feeling of thoughtful sadness
2.	a constitutional tendency to be gloomy and depressed
3.	a humor that was once believed to be secreted by the kidneys or spleen and to cause sadness and melancholy [syn: black bile]

Kernerman English Multilingual Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
melancholy [ˈmelənkəli] noun

depression or sadness
Example: He was overcome by a feeling of melancholy.

Arabic:	كآبَه، سُوَيْداء
Chinese (Simplified):	忧郁
Chinese (Traditional):	憂鬱
Czech:	melancholie
Danish:	melankoli
Dutch:	melancholie
Estonian:	melanhoolia
Finnish:	melankolia
French:	mélancolie
German:	die Melancholie
Greek:	μελαγχολία
Hungarian:	búskomorság
Icelandic:	þunglyndi, depurð
Indonesian:	kesedihan
Italian:	malinconia

Japanese:	憂うつ
Korean:	우울(증)
Latvian:	melanholija
Lithuanian:	melancholija
Norwegian:	tungsinn, melankoli
Polish:	melancholia
Portuguese (Brazil):	melancolia
Portuguese (Portugal):	melancolia
Romanian:	melancolie
Russian:	уныние
Slovak:	melanchólia
Slovenian:	otožnost
Spanish:	melancolía
Swedish:	melankoli
Turkish:	melânkoli, hüzün

melancholy [ˈmelənkəli] adjective

sad; showing or causing sadness
Example: melancholy eyes

Arabic:	سَوْداوي، حَزين، يُظْهِر الحُزْن
Chinese (Simplified):	令人伤感的
Chinese (Traditional):	令人傷感的
Czech:	melancholický
Danish:	melankolsk
Dutch:	melancholiek
Estonian:	raskemeelne
Finnish:	surumielinen
French:	mélancolique
German:	melancholisch
Greek:	μελαγχολικός
Hungarian:	búskomor
Icelandic:	þunglyndur, dapur
Indonesian:	sedih
Italian:	malinconico

Japanese:	憂うつな
Korean:	우울한, 울적하게 하는
Latvian:	skumjš, grūtsirdīgs
Lithuanian:	melancholiškas
Norwegian:	tungsindig, trist, melankolsk
Polish:	smutny, melancholijny
Portuguese (Brazil):	melancólico
Portuguese (Portugal):	melancólico
Romanian:	melancolic
Russian:	грустный, печальный
Slovak:	melancholický
Slovenian:	otožen
Spanish:	melancólico
Swedish:	melankolisk
Turkish:	çok üzgün, kederli

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Melancholy

Mel`an*cho"li*a\, n. [L. See Melancholy.] (Med.) A kind of mental unsoundness characterized by extreme depression of spirits, ill-grounded fears, delusions, and brooding over one particular subject or train of ideas.

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Melancholy

Mel"an*chol*y\, n. [OE. melancolie, F. m['e]lancolie, L. melancholia, fr. Gr. ?; me`las, -anos, black + ? gall, bile. See Malice, and 1st Gall.]

1. Depression of spirits; a gloomy state continuing a considerable time; deep dejection; gloominess. --Shak.

2. Great and continued depression of spirits, amounting to mental unsoundness; melancholia.

3. Pensive maditation; serious thoughtfulness. [Obs.] "Hail, divinest Melancholy !" --Milton.

4. Ill nature. [Obs.] --Chaucer.

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