melancholy

== English == === Alternative forms === melancholly, melancholie, melancholious (obsolete) === Etymology === From Middle English malencolie, from Old French melancolie, from Ancient Greek μελαγχολία (melankholía, “atrabiliousness”) (from μέλας (mélas), μελαν- (melan-, “black, dark, murky”) + χολή (kholḗ, “bile”)), referring to the humour which ancient Hippocratic and later Galenic medicine associated with sadness and despondency. Compare the Latin ātra bīlis (“black bile”). The adjectival use is a Middle English innovation, perhaps influenced by the suffixes -y, -ly. Doublet of melancholia. === Pronunciation === (UK) IPA(key): /ˈmɛlənkəli/ (US) IPA(key): /ˈmɛl.ənˌkɑ.li/ === Noun === melancholy (countable and uncountable, plural melancholies) (historical) Black bile, formerly thought to be one of the four "cardinal humours" of animal bodies. , Bk.I, New York 2001, p.148: Melancholy, cold and dry, thick, black, and sour, […] is a bridle to the other two hot humours, blood and choler, preserving them in the blood, and nourishing the bones. Great sadness or depression, especially of a thoughtful or introspective nature. Synonyms: despondency, misery; see also Thesaurus:sadness 1936 Sept. 15, F. Scott Fitzgerald, letter to Beatrice Dance: As to Ernest... He is quite as nervously broken down as I am but it manifests itself in different ways. His inclination is towards megalomania and mine towards melancholy. ==== Derived terms ==== ==== Translations ==== === Adjective === melancholy (comparative more melancholy, superlative most melancholy) (literary) Affected with great sadness or depression. Synonyms: melancholic; see also Thesaurus:sad, Thesaurus:cheerless Suggestive of wistfulness or subdued emotion. ==== Translations ==== === Related terms === melancholic sadness melancholia