melancholy

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   A deep, thoughtful sadness.

   A quiet melancholy settled over her as she watched the summer end.

2. 2
   adj

   Feeling or expressing deep sadness.

   He gave a melancholy smile and turned away from the window.

Simplified etymology

Melancholy comes through Middle English from Greek melankholia, formed from melas, “black,” and kholē, “bile.” In medieval humoural theory, black bile was believed to cause depression; the word now more often denotes pensive or moody sadness.

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.

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