# melancholia

> English word · Noun · frequency rank #61,626

## Definitions
1. Deep sadness or gloom; melancholy
2. depression, characterised by irrational fears, guilt and apathy

## Etymology
From Late Latin melancholia, which was in turn borrowed from the Ancient Greek medical term μελαγχολία (melankholía, “blackness of the bile”), from μέλας (mélas), μελαν- (melan-, “black, dark, murky”) + χολή (kholḗ, “bile”). Doublet of melancholy.

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