pell-mell

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈpɛlˈmɛl/^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Middle French pêle-mêle,^{[2][3][4][5][6]} from Old French pesle mesle,^[2][3][4][6] a rhyming reduplication of mesle, from mesler “to mix”.^[2][3][4][6] It is related to meddle.^[2][3][4][6] Middle English already had a phrase pelly melly (about 1450).^[3][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Of combatants, in a confused mingling, hand to hand; and of pursuers and pursued (1579–80).^[7][3][4]

Semantic evolution

From mingled confusion the word came to mean headlong haste (1594)^[7] and indiscriminately (1586, now obsolete).^[7] The adjective “disorderly” is from 1585^[3][7] and the noun “a confused mixture or fight” from 1598.^[7] Etymonline compares higgledy-piggledy.^[4]

Timeline

• about 1450 – pelly melly.^[3][4]
• 1579–80 – in mingled confusion, as of combatants.^[7][3]
• 1585 – adjective.^[3][7]
• 1594 – in headlong haste.^[7]
• 1598 – noun, a confused mixture.^[7]

Modern meaning

Adverb

1. In a jumbled, confused manner; helter-skelter.
2. In reckless, disorderly haste; headlong.

Adjective

1. Disorderly or overhasty.

Noun

1. A confused mass or disorderly haste.

Related words

• meddle
• melee
• pall-mall

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Barnhart, Robert K., ed. (1995), The Barnhart Concise Dictionary of Etymology, New York: HarperCollins
4. ^ a b c d e f g h Harper, Douglas, Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
6. ^ a b c d Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary (1999), 2nd ed., New York: Random House
7. ^ a b c d e f g h i Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press