melancholy

The story

1. Ancient Greek · derived fromμελαγχολία“atrabiliousness”
2. Old French · derived frommelancolie
3. Middle English · inherited frommalencolie
4. English todaymelancholy

From Middle English malencolie, from Old French melancolie, from Ancient Greek μελαγχολία (melankholía, “atrabiliousness”) (from μέλας (mélas), μελαν- (melan-, “black, dark, murky”) + χολή (kholḗ, “bile”)), referring to the humour which ancient Hippocratic and later Galenic medicine associated with sadness and despondency. Compare the Latin ātra bīlis (“black bile”). The adjectival use is a Middle English innovation, perhaps influenced by the suffixes -y, -ly. Doublet of melancholia.

Words from the same roots