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
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|
| 1 | Middle English | melodie | — |
| 2 | Old French | melodie | — |
| 3 | Latin | melōdia | — |
| 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 |
Words derived from “melody”