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

mel·lif·lu·ous

Audio Help [muh-lif-loo-uh

s] Pronunciation Key

–adjective

1.	sweetly or smoothly flowing; sweet-sounding: a mellifluous voice; mellifluous tones.

2.	flowing with honey; sweetened with or as if with honey.

[Origin: 1375–1425; late ME < LL mellifluus, equiv. to L melli- (s. of mel) honey + -flu(ere) to flow + -us adj. suffix (see -ous)

]

—Related forms

mel·lif·lu·ous·ly, adverb

mel·lif·lu·ous·ness, noun

—Synonyms 1. melodious, musical, dulcet, harmonious.

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

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mellifluous

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American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

mel·lif·lu·ous Audio Help (mə-lĭf'lōō-əs) Pronunciation Key
adj.

Flowing with sweetness or honey.
Smooth and sweet: "polite and cordial, with a mellifluous, well-educated voice" (H.W. Crocker III).

[Middle English, from Late Latin mellifluus : Latin mel, mell-, honey; see melit- in Indo-European roots + Latin -fluus, flowing; see bhleu- in Indo-European roots.]

mel·lif'lu·ous·ly adv., mel·lif'lu·ous·ness n.

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Online Etymology Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
mellifluous

1432, from L.L. mellifluus "flowing with (or as if with) honey," from L. mel (gen. mellis) "honey" + -fluus "flowing," from fluere "to flow" (see fluent).

WordNet - Cite This Source - Share This

mellifluous
adjective
pleasing to the ear; "the dulcet tones of the cello" [syn: dulcet]

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

Mellifluous

Mar"ma*lade\, n. [F. marmelade, Pg. marmelada, fr. marm['e]lo a quince, fr. L. melimelum honey apple, Gr. ? a sweet apple, an apple grafted on a quince; ? honey + ? apple. Cf. Mellifluous, Melon.] A preserve or confection made of the pulp of fruit, as the quince, pear, apple, orange, etc., boiled with sugar, and brought to a jamlike consistence.

Marmalade tree (Bot.), a sapotaceous tree (Lucuma mammosa) of the West Indies and Tropical America. It has large obovate leaves and an egg-shaped fruit from three to five inches long, containing a pleasant-flavored pulp and a single large seed. The fruit is called marmalade, or natural marmalade, from its consistency and flavor.

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mellifluous

mellifluous was Word of the Day on February 24, 2000.

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