mellow
English
Etymology
From Middle English melowe, melwe (“soft, sweet, juicy”), variant of Middle English merow, merwe (“soft, tender”), from Old English meru, mearu (“tender, soft, callow, delicate, frail”), from Proto-Germanic *marwaz (“mellow”), from Proto-Indo-European *mer(w)- (“to rub, pack”). Cognate with Saterland Frisian muur (“tender”), West Frisian murf (“tender”), Dutch murw (“tender”), German Low German möör (“tender”), German mürbe (“tender, soft”), Old Norse mör (“tender; aching”), Icelandic meyr (“tender”).
Pronunciation
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Audio (US): (file)
- Rhymes: -ɛləʊ
Adjective
mellow (comparative mellower or more mellow, superlative mellowest or most mellow)
- Soft or tender by reason of ripeness; having a tender pulp.
- a mellow apple
- Easily worked or penetrated; not hard or rigid.
- a mellow soil
- (Can we date this quote?) Drayton
- flowers of rank and mellow glebe
- Not coarse, rough, or harsh; subdued, soft, rich, delicate; said of sound, color, flavor, style, etc.
- Well matured; softened by years; genial; jovial.
- Relaxed; calm; easygoing; laid-back.
- 1963, Margery Allingham, chapter 3, in The China Governess[1]:
- Here the stripped panelling was warmly gold and the pictures, mostly of the English school, were mellow and gentle in the afternoon light.
- Warmed by liquor, slightly intoxicated, stoned, or high.
- (Can we find and add a quotation of Addison to this entry?)
Synonyms
- (tender): See Thesaurus:soft
- (not hard): yielding; See also Thesaurus:soft
- (not harsh): merry
- (genial): convivial, gay, genial, jovial
- (relaxed): easy-breezy, casual
- (slightly intoxicated): See Thesaurus:drunk or Thesaurus:stoned
Derived terms
Translations
Soft or tender by reason of ripeness; having a tender pulp
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relaxed
Noun
mellow (plural mellows)
- A relaxed mood.
- 1997, Neil A. Hamilton, The ABC-CLIO companion to the 1960s counterculture in America, page 258:
- Yet, conversely, some people searched for the mellow ... Hope for flower power had faded, though the journey into the mellow did not
- 1999, Kurt Andersen, Turn of the century, page 508:
- On their third date, Lizzie had actually said to him, "You're sort of harshing my mellow." It made him wonder if she might be stupid, and not just young.
Derived terms
Verb
mellow (third-person singular simple present mellows, present participle mellowing, simple past and past participle mellowed)
- (transitive) To make mellow; to relax or soften.
- The fervour of early feeling is tempered and mellowed by the ripeness of age.
- (intransitive) To become mellow.
- 1592-94, William Shakespeare, Richard III, Act IV Scene 4
- So now prosperity begins to mellow
And drop into the rotten mouth of death.
- So now prosperity begins to mellow
- 1592-94, William Shakespeare, Richard III, Act IV Scene 4
Derived terms
Categories:
- English terms inherited from Middle English
- English terms derived from Middle English
- English terms inherited from Old English
- English terms derived from Old English
- English terms inherited from Proto-Germanic
- English terms derived from Proto-Germanic
- English terms derived from Proto-Indo-European
- English 2-syllable words
- English terms with IPA pronunciation
- English terms with audio links
- Rhymes:English/ɛləʊ
- English lemmas
- English adjectives
- English terms with quotations
- Requests for quotations/Addison
- English nouns
- English countable nouns
- English verbs
- English transitive verbs
- English intransitive verbs