Melissa

See also: melissa and Mélissa

Translingual

Etymology

Ancient Greek μέλισσα (mélissa, “honey bee”) (compare Melissa), which in turn comes from μέλι (méli, “honey”).

Proper noun

Melissa f

1. A taxonomic genus within the family Lamiaceae - lemon balm.

Hypernyms

• (genus): Plantae - kingdom; angiosperms, eudicots, core eudicots, asterids, euasterids I - clades; Lamiales - order; Lamiaceae - family; Nepetoideae - subfamily; Mentheae - tribe

Hyponyms

• (genus): Melissa officinalis - type species; Melissa axillaris, Melissa bicornis, Melissa flava, Melissa yunnanensis - other species

Further reading

• Melissa (plant) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• Melissa on Wikispecies.Wikispecies
• Melissa (Lamiaceae) on Wikimedia Commons.Wikimedia Commons
• Melissa at USDA Plants database

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English

Etymology

From Ancient Greek μέλισσα (mélissa, “bee, honey, honeybee”)

• In Ireland it is sometimes used as a feminine form of the Gaelic male name Maoilíosa "servant of Jesus".

Pronunciation

• (US) IPA^(key): /məˈlɪsə/
• Rhymes: -ɪsə

Proper noun

Melissa

1. (Greek mythology) Bee-nymph in Greek mythology.
2. A female given name. Popular in the latter half of the 20th century.

Quotations

• 1596 Edmund Spenser: The Faerie Queene. Book 6, Canto XII:

  And her owne handmayd, that Melissa hight

  Appointed to attend her dewly day and night

• 1841 Charles Dickens: The Old Curiosity Shop. Chapman and Hall 1841. page 123:

  Miss Melissa Wackles was the eldest daughter, Miss Sophy the next, and Miss Jane the youngest.

• 1959 Nicholas Blake: The Widow's Cruise. page 9:

  - - - by Mrs. Melissa Blaydon and Miss Ianthe Ambrose.

  "Well, they may be sisters," said Nigel. "Those elegant, classical Christian names suggest one father.

Translations

female given name

• Albanian: Meljisa f
• Chinese:

  Cantonese: 梅麗莎 (Méilìshā)

  Mandarin: 梅利莎 (Méilìshā)

• Danish: Melissa
• French: Mélissa (fr)
• German: Melissa (de)
• Greek: Μέλισσα f (Mélissa)
• Irish: Maolíosa

• Italian: Melissa (it)
• Japanese: メリッサ (Merissa)
• Korean: 멜리사 (Merisa)
• Persian: ملیسا‏‎ (Melisâ)
• Portuguese: Melissa (pt) f
• Russian: Мелисса f (Melissa)
• Serbo-Croatian: Мелиса (Melisa)
• Swedish: Melissa (sv)
• Thai: เมลิสสา (Melis̄s̄ā)

Anagrams

• Maisels, Salemis, aimless, samiels, seismal

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Danish

Proper noun

Melissa

1. A female given name, cognate to Melissa.

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German

Proper noun

Melissa

1. A female given name, cognate to Melissa.

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Italian

Proper noun

Melissa f

1. A female given name, cognate to Melissa.

Anagrams

• limasse
• messali

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Portuguese

Etymology

From Latin Melissa, from Ancient Greek Μέλισσα (Mélissa), from μέλισσα (mélissa, “bee”).

Pronunciation

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /me.ˈli.sɐ/

Proper noun

Melissa f

1. A female given name, equivalent to English Melissa
2. (Greek mythology) Melissa (nymph who discovered and taught the use of honey)

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Swedish

Proper noun

Melissa

1. A female given name, cognate to Melissa.