mell

M3E1L1L1
/mɛl/

verb

To say (something); to speak, to tell.

OriginMiddle English melen ← Old English mǣlan ← Proto-Germanic *mahlą →
UncommonScrabble 6
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Meanings

mell1

verbmell (third-person singular simple present mells, present participle melling, simple past and past participle melled)

present singular third person mells · participle present melling · participle past melled · past melled · alternative mele

  1. UKdialectaltransitiveTo say (something); to speak, to tell.
noun

alternative mele

  1. UKdialectalDiscourse; conversation.

mell2

verbmell (third-person singular simple present mells, present participle melling, simple past and past participle melled)

present singular third person mells · participle present melling · participle past melled · past melled

  1. dialectalintransitiveobsoleteTo deal, concern oneself; to interfere or meddle.

    For wher so we dwell / Deth wyll us qwell / And with us mell.

    c. 1495, John Skelton, Vppon a deedman's hed
    3 more examples

    Here is a great deale of good matter, / loſt for lacke of telling, / Now ſicker I see, thou doeſt but clatter: / harme may come of melling.

    1579, Immeritô [pseudonym; Edmund Spenser], “Iulye. Ægloga Septima.”, in The Shepheardes Calender: […], London: […] Hugh Singleton, […], →OCLC, folio 29, recto

    And ſay a ſouldier (Dian) told thee this: / Men are to mell with, boyes are not to kis.

    c. 1604–1605 (date written), William Shakespeare, “All’s Well, that Ends Well”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene iii], page 250, column 1

    “By Saint Thomas of Kent,” said he, “an I buckle to my gear, I will teach thee to mell with thine own matters, maugre thine iron case there.”

    1819 December 20 (indicated as 1820), Walter Scott, chapter II, in Ivanhoe; a Romance. […], volume III, Edinburgh: […] Archibald Constable and Co.; London: Hurst, Robinson, and Co. […], →OCLC, page 57

mell3

nounmell (uncountable)
  1. obsoleteuncountableHoney.

    Her ſmyles were ſober, and her lookes were chearfull vnto all: / And ſuch as neither wanton ſeeme, noꝛ waward, mell, noꝛ gall.

    1586, William Warner, “The Fourth Booke. Chapter XX.”, in Albions England. Or Historicall Map of the Same Island: […], London: […] George Robinson [and R. Ward] for Thomas Cadman, […], →OCLC, page 86

mell4

nounmell (uncountable)
  1. uncountableThe last grain cut at harvest; kern

mell5

nounmell (plural mells)

plural mells

  1. dialectalA heavy hammer or beetle of metal or wood.
  2. obsoleteA mace or club.
  3. obsoleteA chairman's hammer.

Mell6

proper nounMell (plural Mells)

plural Mells

  1. A surname.

Origin

mell · verb, noun

  1. Proto-Indo-European*meh₂d-“to meet, encounter”
  2. Proto-Germanic*mahlą“meeting, congress, speech”
  3. Old Englishmǣlan“to speak, talk”
  4. Middle Englishmelen
  5. Englishmell

From Middle English melen, mælen, from Old English mǣlan (“to speak, talk”), from mǣl (“speech, talk, conversation; dispute, contest, battle”) and māl (“suit, case, action, terms, agreement, covenanted pay”), both from Proto-Germanic *mahlą (“meeting, congress, speech”), alteration of *maþlą (“meeting, congress, speech”), perhaps from Proto-Indo-European *meh₂d- (“to meet, encounter”). Cognate with Scots mele (“to speak, converse, tell”), Danish mæle (“to speak, utter”), Icelandic mæla (“to speak, say”), Old High German mahalōn (“to charge, accuse, proscecute”), German vermählen (“to wed, marry”). More at blackmail.

More words from Middle English, Old English, Proto-Germanic

Full word history & related roots →

mell · verb

  1. Old Frenchmeller
  2. Middle Englishmellen
  3. Englishmell

From Middle English mellen, medlen, from Old French meller, mesler (“to mix, mingle”). Doublet of meddle.

More words from Middle English, Old French

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mell · noun

  1. Latinmell-, mel
  2. Middle Englishmel
  3. Englishmell

From Middle English mel, mell, melle, from Latin mell-, mel. Doublet of mel.

More words from Middle English, Latin

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mell · noun

A variant form of maul.

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Rhymes & wordplay

Rhymes with mell

wellhotellsellcelltelleldelpersonneldellNFLshellfellexcelMichellegeldlmotelspellsmellrebelbellemelmichel
All rhymes →
Cite this entry
APA

mell. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/mell

MLA

“mell.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/mell. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “mell,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/mell.

Source: mell on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.