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melody

[mel-uh-dee]

Example Sentences Origin

noun, plural -dies.

musical sounds in agreeable succession or arrangement.

Music.

the succession of single tones in musical compositions, as distinguished from harmony and rhythm.

the principal part in a harmonic composition; the air.

a rhythmical succession of single tones producing a distinct musical phrase or idea.

a poem suitable for singing.

intonation, as of a segment of connected speech.

Origin:
1250–1300; Middle English melodie < Medieval Latin melōdia < Greek melōidía (choral) singing, equivalent to mel- (see melic) + -ōid- (see ode) + -ia -y³

Related forms

mel·o·dy·less, adjective

un·der·mel·o·dy, noun, plural -dies.

Can be confused: malady, melody.

Synonyms
1. See harmony. 2. tune, song, descant, theme.

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Melody is always a great word to know.

So is flat. Does it mean:

note equivalent in time value to one half of a whole note

tone lowered a half step in pitch

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Example Sentences

How a melody becomes an earworm, however, is unclear.

The entire cast lets loose a shriek-part awe, part terror, part melody.

The shop boasts a melody machine that allows you to customise your dialling tone to play the latest popular song.

EXPAND

How a melody becomes an earworm, however, is unclear.

The entire cast lets loose a shriek-part awe, part terror, part melody.

The shop boasts a melody machine that allows you to customise your dialling tone to play the latest popular song.

It combines flamenco and rumba sounds with a pop melody.

The woman then goes on to play a simple improvised melody over a looped backing track.

In the bridge, she largely sings the original melody but makes the rhythms and phrasing her own.

The song has lots of layered melody so images of space started forming.

The second song sets gruesome lyrics to a lovely, traditional melody with gentle string accompaniment.

The male's echoing melody challenges his rivals, wakes the raccoon, and serenades the woodland sojourner.

Because the melody of an infant's cry matches its mother tongue.

But mostly they will go away with a warm feeling in their hearts, and perhaps remembering a melody.

Often, the resulting track features the melody of one song and the vocals of another.

The stunning blonde then struck up a hypnotic melody on what resembled an accordion.

The difference is it doesn't use really melody in there.

Through one garage door comes a pretty, prog-rock melody of guitar notes.

The final product was a melody that gets into your head quickly and won't leave.

It's nice when you want to apply mods to the melody but leave the drum loop untouched.

He started to panic that he'd lose the melody and be haunted by it forever and his talent would be gone.

Depending on what you're after, a song can benefit from a gorgeous melody or from the distinct absence of one.

But innovators know that the roar of results drums louder than the melody of good ideas.

Almost every breath contains some fragments of an escaping melody.

It's the melody of amazing grace that makes it so hauntingly beautiful.

The traditional melody was intact but the spirit had definitely.

It leads a triple life, at once a harmony instrument, a melody instrument and a percussion instrument.

Debashish can sing perfectly in parallel with every blindingly fast melody he plays.

Joropo features a lead melody instrument, which can vary from the bandola oriental.

He dictated the melody to a composer and can't understand why this version sounds different.

Considering this man's way with words, melody and humor, it could be money well spent.

Every keystroke builds an evolving melody as his darting cursor adds and replaces functions and tempo variables.

COLLAPSE

Dictionary.com Unabridged

noun

a female given name.

Link To melody

Collins

World English Dictionary

melody (ˈmɛlədɪ)

—n , pl -dies
1.	music
	a. a succession of notes forming a distinctive sequence; tune
	b. Compare harmony the horizontally represented aspect of the structure of a piece of music
2.	sounds that are pleasant because of tone or arrangement, esp words of poetry

[C13: from Old French, from Late Latin melōdia, from Greek melōidia singing, from melos song + -ōidia, from aoidein to sing]

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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Etymonline

Word Origin & History

melody

late 13c., from O.Fr. melodie, from L.L. melodia, from Gk. meloidia "singing, chanting, a tune for lyric poetry," from melos "song, part of song," originally "limb" + oide "song, ode."

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"The song is ended, but the melody lingers on."

-Irving Berlin

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