mêlée

See also: melee

English

Etymology

Borrowed from French mêlée.

Noun

mêlée (plural mêlées)

1. Alternative spelling of melee
   • 1988, Douglas Adams, The Long Dark Tea-Time of the Soul, William Heinemann Ltd, page 218:

     What could the Draycotts possibly be doing here? And where, in such a mêlée, could the Draycotts possibly be?

French

Etymology

Inherited from Old French meslee, older meslede, from the feminine past participle of early Medieval Latin misculō, derived from Latin misceō.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /mɛ.le/, /me.le/

• Audio (FR)

  (file)

Noun

mêlée f (plural mêlées)

1. fray
2. (rugby) scrum

Descendants

• → Catalan: melé
• → English: melee
• → Italian: mêlée
• → Portuguese: melê
• → Spanish: melé

Participle

mêlée f sg

1. feminine singular of mêlé

Derived terms

• demi de mêlée

Further reading

• “mêlée”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.