Mellow

a. [compar. MELLOWER; superl. MELLOWEST.] [Cf. Prov. Ger. mollig, soft; Fries. miöllig, mjöl, A-S. milisc, milsc, sweet, pleasant, ripe; L. Ger. mals, malsk, malsam, malsig, mölsch, D. mals. Cf. Lat. mulsus.]

1Sense 1. Soft; not hard, harsh, tough, or unyielding; as, (a.) Soft with ripeness; ripe; as, a mellow apple. (b.) Well broken and lying lightly; easily penetrated; not indurated; as, a mellow soil. “Mellow globe.” Drayton. (c.) Not hard, coarse, or rough to the senses; soft; rich; delicate;—said of sound, color, flavor, and the like. “The mellow horn.” Wordsworth. “The mellow-tasted Burgundy.” Thomson.

Of seven smooth joints a mellow pipe I have. Dryden.

The tender flush whose mellow stain imbues Heaven with all freaks of light. Percival.

2Sense 2. Well matured; ripened, or softened, by years; genial; jovial.

May health return to mellow age. Wordsworth.

As merry and mellow an old bachelor as ever followed a hound. W. Irving.

3Sense 3. Jovial with liquor; warmed by wine; slightly intoxicated; fuddled.

v. t. [imp. & p. p. MELLOWED; p. pr. & vb. n. MELLOWING.] 1. To make mellow; to ripen; to bring to maturity; to soften by ripeness or age; to make rich and delicate.

*On foreign mountains may the sun refine The grape's soft juice, and mellow it to wine.* Addison.

This episode . . . mellowed into that reputation which time has given it. Dryden.

2Sense 2. To soften; to pulverize; as, earth is mellowed by frost.

v. i. To become soft; to be ripened, matured, or brought to perfection; as, fruit, when taken from the tree, soon mellows; wine mellows with age. So now prosperity begins to mellow And drop into the rotten mouth of death. Shak.