# melancholy

> English word · Noun · IPA /ˈmɛlənkəli/ · frequency rank #17,414

## Definitions
1. Black bile, formerly thought to be one of the four "cardinal humours" of animal bodies.
2. Great sadness or depression, especially of a thoughtful or introspective nature.

## Etymology
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”). 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.

## Easily confused with
- **melancholic** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/melancholic-vs-melancholy)

## Common misspellings (16)
`emlancholy`, `mealncholy`, `melacnholy`, `melanccholy`, `melanchholy`, `melanchloy`, `melancholly`, `melancholyy`, `melanchoyl`, `melancohly`, `melanhcoly`, `melanncholy`, `mellancholy`, `melnacholy`, `mleancholy`, `mmelancholy`

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