# melanism

> English word · Noun

## Definitions
1. Congenital abundance or excess of melanin pigmentation in the skin, hair, feathers and/or eyes, more than is typical for the species.

## Etymology
From French mélanisme; by surface analysis, melan(o)- + -ism.

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