melody English · revision 39516

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=c. 1300, a Middle English life of Saint Brendan|origins=grc μελῳδός}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /ˈmɛl.ə.di/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|enm|melodie]],^(AHD 2024)^(Etymonline) [[bor|fro|melodie|t=song, music, tune]],^(OED 2026)^(Etymonline)^(AHD 2024) and partly a direct borrowing of [[la-lat|melōdia]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) from [[grc|μελῳδία|tr=melōidía|t=singing, chanting, choral song]],^(OED 2026)^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) from [[m|grc|μελῳδός|tr=melōidós|t=musical, singing]],^(OED 2026)^(SOED 2002)^(Hoad 1986) a compound of [[m|grc|μέλος|tr=mélos|t=limb; musical phrase, song]] and [[m|grc|ᾠδή|tr=ōidḗ|t=song]], the source of [[ode]].^(OED 2026)^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) Etymonline calls the origin of the first element uncertain;^(Etymonline) Ayto notes that it first meant a limb and was transferred to a part of a piece of music and then to a song,^(Ayto 2005) and Merriam-Webster relates it to [[br|mell|t=joint]], [[cy|cymal|t=joint]] and [[sa|मर्मन्|tr=marman|t=limb]].^(MWU 2024) In the Middle Ages the Latin word was associated with [[la|mel|t=honey]], which gave it a suggestion of sweetness.^(OED 2026)^(Weekley 1921)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Sweet music or song, including birdsong, and the beauty of musical sound: c. 1300, in a Middle English life of Saint Brendan;^(OED 2026)^(Etymonline) Barnhart dates it probably before 1300, in ''Kyng Alisaunder''.^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Around 1300 a ''melody'' could also be a musical performance, especially a song, a sense lost by 1530,^(OED 2026) and ''to make melody'', to make music or sing, is found from about 1330.^(OED 2026) Chaucer used the word 31 times and Gower nine times.^(GCME) Etymonline dates the sense "a song of clear and balanced form" to the late 14th century.^(Etymonline) Since 1589 the word has also described a pleasing sound in verse or prose.^(OED 2026) The modern sense, a series of single notes forming a tune, appears in 1609, in John Dowland's translation of Ornithoparchus, and Etymonline puts it at about 1600.^(OED 2026)^(Etymonline) Johnson (1755) still defined it broadly as "musick; harmony of sound".^(Johnson 1755) Melody as an element of musical composition, set against harmony, is recorded from 1728,^(OED 2026)^(Hoad 1986) and as the principal voice-part of a harmonized piece by 1880.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1300 – sweet music, tunefulness;^(OED 2026)^(Etymonline) also a musical performance (until 1530).^(OED 2026)

+ * c. 1330 – ''to make melody'', to make music or sing.^(OED 2026)

+ * 1589 – a pleasing quality in writing.^(OED 2026)

+ * 1596 – the verb, to make music, sing.^(OED 2026)

+ * 1609 – a tune, a series of single notes.^(OED 2026)^(Etymonline)

+ * 1728 – melody as an element of composition.^(OED 2026)

+ * 1807 – a poem to be sung, in Thomas Moore's title.^(OED 2026)

+ * 1880 – the principal voice-part.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A sequence of single musical notes forming a recognizable [[tune]]: ''She hummed a simple melody while she worked.''^(Collins 2023)^(OED 2026)

+ # (music) The main part of a harmonized piece, which carries the tune.^(Etymonline)^(OED 2026)

+ # The aspect of music concerned with the arrangement of single notes, as distinct from [[harmony]].^(Collins 2023)^(OED 2026)

+ # A pleasing arrangement of sounds, especially in the words of [[poetry]].^(Collins 2023)^(OED 2026)

+ # (literary, rare) A song or [[poem]] suitable for singing.^(OED 2026)

+

+ ===Verb===

+ # (rare) To make music or sing; to sing a melody.^(OED 2026)^(MWU 2024)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[melodic]]

+ * [[melodically]]

+ * [[melodyless]]

+ * [[melodist]]

+ * [[melodize]]

+ * [[undermelody]]

+ * [[melodious]]

+ * [[countermelody]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[melodrama]]

+ * [[ode]]

+ * [[comedy]]

+ * [[malady]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}