medley English · revision 1390

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ˈmɛdli/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|enm|medlee]],^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU) [[der|xno|medlee|t=mixture; fight]],^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU) a noun use of the past participle of ''medler'' “to mix, meddle”,^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU) from Vulgar Latin ''*misculāre'' “to mix”.^(Barnhart 1995) It is related to [[meddle]] and [[melee]].^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Hand-to-hand combat or fighting (about 1300).^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The sense of combat is obsolete or archaic.^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989)^(MW Collegiate) From the 14th century the word meant cloth woven from wool of different colours,^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989) and from about 1400 any mixture.^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989) A musical composition made of parts from different sources is recorded from 1626,^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline) and in sport a swimming race combining four strokes is a 20th-century sense.^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * about 1300 – combat, fighting.^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989)

+ * 1438 – cloth of mixed colours.^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1995)

+ * about 1440 – a mixture.^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline)

+ * 1626 – a musical medley.^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A mixed assortment; a [[jumble]] or [[hodgepodge]].^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+ # A piece of music combining tunes or passages from different sources.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+ # A swimming race combining [[butterfly]], [[backstroke]], [[breaststroke]] and [[freestyle]].^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(archaic)'' A [[melee]].^(MW Collegiate)^(OED 1989)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ===Adjective===

+ # ''(archaic)'' Mixed or mingled.^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[chance-medley]]

+ * [[individual medley]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[meddle]]

+ * [[melee]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}