# medley

> English word · Noun · IPA /ˈmɛdli/ · frequency rank #20,164

## Definitions
1. Combat, fighting; a battle.
2. A collection or mixture of miscellaneous things.
3. A collection of related songs played or mixed together as a single piece.
4. A competitive swimming event that combines the four strokes of butterfly, backstroke, breaststroke, and freestyle.
5. A cloth of mixed colours.

## Etymology
From Middle English medle, from Anglo-Norman medlee, Old French medlee, from the feminine past participle of early Medieval Latin misculō (“to mix”). Compare meddle. Doublet of melee.

## Easily confused with
- **Miley** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/medley-vs-miley)
- **melee** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/medley-vs-melee)
- **merle** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/medley-vs-merle)
- **Morley** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/medley-vs-morley)
- **motley** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/medley-vs-motley)
- **Mosley** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/medley-vs-mosley)
- **Medway** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/medley-vs-medway)
- **Mersey** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/medley-vs-mersey)
- **madly** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/madly-vs-medley)
- **Medea** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/medea-vs-medley)
- **Marley** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/marley-vs-medley)
- **Manley** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/manley-vs-medley)
- **meddle** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/meddle-vs-medley)

## Common misspellings (9)
`emdley`, `mdeley`, `meddley`, `medely`, `medleyy`, `medlley`, `medlye`, `meldey`, `mmedley`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/medley