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An American Dictionary of the English Language

by Noah Webster

Revised and enlarged (Goodrich & Porter)

Springfield, Mass. · G. & C. Merriam · 1865

Entries
95,912
Pages
1,538
Illustrations
2,133

Look up a word as the writers of the time used it.

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  1. Mēl'chite, n.p. 826(Eccl. Hist.) One of a certain religious sect in the East;—a term applied to the Greek Catholic church, or to such members of the Greek community as are Romanists. Eudic.
  2. Mel-chiz'e-dē'cian, n.p. 826See MELCHISEDECIAN.
  3. Mēl'e-ā'gris, n.p. 826(Ornith.) A genus of gallinaceous birds, including the common turkey (M. gallopavo). M. fera is the wild turkey.
  4. Mêlée, n.p. 826A fight in which the combatants are mingled in one confused mass;—a hand-to-hand conflict; an affray.
  5. Mēl'ic, a.p. 826Of, or pertaining to, song; lyric; tuneful. [Obs.]
  6. Mēl'i-ē'ris, n.p. 826(Med.) An encysted tumor, containing a substance resembling honey.
  7. Me-lĭg-er-ōīs, a.p. 826Consisting of matter like honey;—said of a tumor inclosed in a cyst.
  8. Mĕl'ic-grāss, n.p. 826(Bot.) A plant of the genus Melica: a species of perennial grass.
  9. Mĕl'i-co-tōn', n.p. 826See MELOCOTON.
  10. Me-lĭc'ra-to-ry, n.p. 826A mixture of honey, water, &c., forming a kind of mead.
  11. Mĕl'i-līte, n.p. 826(Min.) A mineral occurring in small yellow crystals, found in the lavas of Vesuvius. Dana.
  12. Mēl'i-lōt, n.p. 826(Bot.) A plant of the genus Melilotus (M. officinalis), having yellow flowers of a peculiar odor and flavor. It is now used in the manufacture of sapsago cheese. It is a native of Europe, but now…
  13. Mēl'ior-āte, v. t.p. 826To make better; to improve; to ameliorate; to soften; to render less acrid and offensive; as, to meliorate fruit by grafting, or soil by cultivation. Nature by art we nobly meliorate. Denham. The…
  14. Mēl'ior-āte, v. i.p. 826To grow better.
  15. Mēl'ior-ā'ter, n.p. 826The same as MELIORATOR.
  16. Mēl'ior-ā'tion, n.p. 826The act or operation of meliorating, or the state of being meliorated; improvement.
  17. Mēl'ior-ā'tor, n.p. 826One who meliorates.
  18. Mēl-iōr'i-ty, n.p. 826The state of being better. [Obs.] Bacon.
  19. Me-liph'a-gan, n.p. 827(Ornith.) One of a family of birds having long, slender beaks, and the end of the tongue composed of a great number of slender filaments, forming a sort of brush, by means of which they extract honey…
  20. Me-lĭph'a-goûs, a.p. 827Eating, or feeding upon, honey.
  21. Mēll, v. i.p. 827To mix; to meddle. [Obs.] Spenser.
  22. Mēlī, n.p. 827Honey. [Obs.] Warner.
  23. Mēl'late, n.p. 827(Chem.) A combination of mellic or mellitic acid with a base.
  24. Mēl'lay, n.p. 827The same as MELEE. [Rare.] He rode the mellay, lord of the ringing lists. Tennyson.
  25. Mēl'lie, a.p. 827See MELLITIC.
  26. Mel-lif'er-oûs or Mel-lif'ic, a.p. 827Producing honey.
  27. Mĕl'li-fi-cā'tion, n.p. 827The making or production of honey.
  28. Mel-lif'lu-ence, n.p. 827A flow of sweetness, or a sweet, smooth flow.
  29. Mel-lĭf'lu-ent, a.p. 827Flowing as with honey; smooth; mellifluous.
  30. Mel-lĭf'lu-ent-ly, adv.p. 827Smoothly; mellifluously.
  31. Mel-lĭf'lu-oŭs, a.p. 827Flowing as with honey; smooth; sweetly flowing; as, a mellifluous voice.
  32. Mel-lĭf'lu-oŭs-ly, adv.p. 827Smoothly; flowingly.
  33. Mel-lĭġ'e-noŭs, a.p. 827Having the qualities of honey.
  34. Mel-lī'go, n.p. 827Honey-dew.
  35. Mĕl'li-līte, n.p. 827(Min.) (a.) A yellowish or brownish mineral, consisting chiefly of the silicate of alumina, lime, and magnesia. (b.) The same as MELLITE. See MELLITE.
  36. Mel-lĭf'o-quent, a.p. 827Speaking sweetly or harmoniously.
  37. Mēl'īt, n.p. 827(Far.) A dry scab on the heel of a horse’s fore foot, cured by a mixture of honey and vinegar.
  38. Mēl'li-tate, n.p. 827(Chem.) A compound of mellitic acid with a base; a mellate. Graham.
  39. Mĕl'lĭte, n.p. 827(Min.) A mineral of a honey color, found in small octahedral crystals; honey-stone. It consists of mellitic acid and alumina. It is found with brown coal, and is partly the result of vegetable…
  40. Mel-lĭt'ic, a.p. 827(Chem.) (a.) Containing saccharine matter; marked by saccharine secretions; as, mellitic diabetes. (b.) Pertaining to, or derived from, honey-stone; as, mellitic acid. [Written also mellic.]
  41. Mĕl'lon, n.p. 827(Chem.) A lemon-yellow substance, consisting of carbon and nitrogen. Brande.
  42. Mĕl'lōw, a.p. 827Soft; 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…
  43. Mĕl'lōw, v. t.p. 827To 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.…
  44. Mĕl'lōw, v. i.p. 827To 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…
  45. Mĕl'lōw-ly, adv.p. 827In a mellow manner.
  46. Mĕl'lōw-ness, n.p. 827The quality of yielding easily to pressure; ripeness, as of fruit; softness. 2. Maturity; softness or smoothness from age, as of wine.
  47. Mĕl'lōw-tōned, a.p. 827Having soft tones.
  48. Mĕl'lōw-y, a.p. 827Soft; unctuous. Drayton.
  49. Mĕl/o-co-toon' or Mĕl/o-co-toon, n.p. 827A quince; also, a large kind of peach. [Written also malacatune, and melicotoon.]
  50. Me-lō'de-on, n.p. 827(Mus.) A wind instrument, furnished with a key-board, and portable, the bellows being moved by means of pedals worked by the feet of the performer. 2. A music-hall.
  51. Me-lōd'ic, a.p. 827Of the nature of melody; relating to, containing, or made up of, melody.
  52. Me-lōd'ies, n. sing.p. 827The department of musical science which treats of the pitch of tones, and of the laws of melody. [See Note under MATHEMATICS.]
  53. Me-lō'di-ōŭs, a.p. 827Containing melody; musical; agreeable to the ear by a sweet succession of sounds; as, a melodious voice; melodious strains. “And music more melodious than the spheres.” Dryden.
  54. Me-lō'di-ous-ly, adv.p. 827In a melodious manner; musically.
  55. Me-lō'di-ous-ness, n.p. 827The quality of being melodious; musicalness.
  56. Mĕl'o-dīst, n.p. 827A composer or singer of melodies.
  57. Mĕl'o-dīze, v. t.p. 827To make melodious; to form into, or set to, melody.
  58. Mĕl'o-dīze, v. i.p. 827To make melodies; to compose melodies.
  59. Mĕl'o-drā'mă, n.p. 827A dramatic performance in which songs are intermixed, and effect is sought, by startling, exaggerated, or unnatural sentiment or situation; a melodrame.
  60. Mĕl'o-dra-măt'ic, a.p. 827Pertaining to a melodrame; of the nature of melodrama; unnatural or exaggerated in situation or action; coarsely represented; done for effect merely; overstrained.