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medley

 - 3 dictionary results

med⋅ley

  [med-lee] noun, plural -leys, adjective
Use medley in a Sentence
–noun
1. a mixture, esp. of heterogeneous elements; hodgepodge; jumble.
2. a piece of music combining tunes or passages from various sources: a medley of hit songs from Broadway shows.
–adjective
3. Archaic. mixed; mingled.
Origin:
1300–50; ME medlee (n. and adj.) < AF, n. and adj. use of fem. of ptp. of medler to mix, fight; see meddle
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To medley
med·ley   (měd'lē)   
n.   pl. med·leys

  1. An often jumbled assortment; a mixture: "That night he dreamed he was traveling in a foreign country, only it seemed to be a medley of all the countries he'd ever been to and even some he hadn't" (Anne Tyler).

  2. Music An arrangement made from a series of melodies, often from various sources.

  3. Sports An event in competitive swimming in which backstroke, breaststroke, butterfly, and freestyle are swum in equal distances by an individual or as divisions of a relay race.


[Middle English medlee, from Anglo-Norman medlee, meddling, from past participle of medler, to meddle; see meddle.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Word Origin & History

medley 
c.1300, "hand-to-hand combat," from O.Fr. medlee, var. of meslee (see meddle). Meaning "combination, mixture" is from c.1440; that of "musical combination consisting of diverse parts" is from 1626.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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