Where does “melody” come from?
Melody comes from Middle English melodie, from Old French melodie, from Latin melodia, from Ancient Greek μελῳδία, combining μέλος (limb, member, song) and ἀείδω (to sing), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European mey- and -eh₂.
melody (English): tune; sequence of notes that makes up a musical...
Definitions
- tune; sequence of notes that makes up a musical...
Ancestry of “melody”, step by step
melody traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.
via Middle English melodie
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Middle English | melodie | Melodiousness; the quality of being musically harmonious or pleasant |
| 2 | Old French | melodie | — |
| 3 | Latin | melōdia | melody |
| 4 | Ancient Greek | μελῳδία | song, singing; chant; music, melody |
| 5 | Ancient Greek | μελῳδός | musical |
| 6 | Ancient Greek | μέλος | part of a body, limb, member, part; part of a... |
| 7 | Proto-Indo-European | mel- | soft; tender; weak; to deceive; to rub |
| 8 | Proto-Indo-European | mey- | to strengthen; to bind; to change, exchange |
via Middle English melodye
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Middle English | melodye | music; song; melody |