# mellow

> English word · Adjective · IPA /ˈmɛləʊ/ · frequency rank #19,137

## Definitions
1. Soft or tender by reason of ripeness; having a tender pulp.
2. Matured and smooth, and not acidic, harsh, or sharp.
3. Soft and easily penetrated or worked; not hard or rigid; loamy.
4. Mature; of crops: ready to be harvested; ripe.
5. Fruitful and warm.
6. Not coarse, brash, harsh, or rough; delicate, rich, soft, subdued.
7. Senses relating to a person or their qualities.
8. Senses relating to a person or their qualities.
9. Senses relating to a person or their qualities.
10. Senses relating to a person or their qualities.
11. Pleasing in some way; excellent, fantastic, great.

## Etymology
The adjective is derived from Late Middle English melowe, melwe (“ripe, mellow; juicy; sweet”) [and other forms]; further etymology uncertain, possibly:
* from an attributive use of melow, melowe, melewe, mele (“meal from ground grain or legumes; flour; kernel of barley or lentils”) [and other forms], from Old English melo, melu (“meal (edible part of a grain or pulse); flour”), from Proto-Germanic *melwą (“ground corn; meal; flour”), from Proto-Indo-European *melh₂- (“to crush; to grind”); or
* a variant of Middle English merow, merowe, meruw (“soft, tender; of a person: frail; of love: unstable, variable”) [and other forms], from Old English meru, mearu (“soft, tender; delicate, frail; callow”) [and other forms], from Proto-Germanic *marwaz (“soft, mellow; brittle, delicate”), from Proto-Indo-European *mer(w)- (“to rub; to pack”).
The noun and verb are both derived from the adjective. The etymology of noun sense 3 (“close friend; lover”) is unknown, but may also be derived from the adjective.
Cognates
* Dutch murw (“tender”)
* German mürbe (“soft, tender”)
* German Low German möör (“tender”)
* Old Norse mör (“tender; aching”) (Icelandic meyr (“tender”))
* Saterland Frisian muur (“tender”)
* West Frisian murf (“tender”)

## Easily confused with
- **meow** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/mellow-vs-meow)
- **melo** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/mellow-vs-melo)
- **melon** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/mellow-vs-melon)
- **Menlo** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/mellow-vs-menlo)
- **melton** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/mellow-vs-melton)
- **Merlot** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/mellow-vs-merlot)
- **Molloy** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/mellow-vs-molloy)
- **Mello** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/mello-vs-mellow)
- **meadow** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/meadow-vs-mellow)
- **mellon** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/mellon-vs-mellow)
- **Malloy** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/malloy-vs-mellow)
- **Marlow** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/marlow-vs-mellow)
- **Mellor** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/mellor-vs-mellow)

## Common misspellings (7)
`emllow`, `melloww`, `mellwo`, `melolw`, `melow`, `mlelow`, `mmellow`

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