Etymologically
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pell-mell

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 11 October 2026 at 09:57. This address is a permanent link to this version.
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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.
  • 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