mellifluous
adjUS /məˈlɪflu.əs/
Etymology From Middle English mellifluous, mellyfluous, from Latin mellifluus (“flowing like honey”) + -ous, from mel (“honey”) + fluō (“flow”). Compare superfluous and fluid, from same root, and with dulcet (“sweet speech”), alternative Latinate term with a similar meaning.
1
Flowing like honey.
- Though in heaven the trees / Of life ambrosial fruitage bear, and vines / Yield nectar; though from off the boughs each morn / VVe brush mellifluous devvs, and find the ground / Cover'd vvith pearly grain[…]1671, John Milton, “(please specify the page)”, in Paradise Regain’d. A Poem. In IV Books. To which is Added, Samson Agonistes, London: […] J[ohn] M[acock] for John Starkey […], →OCLC:
2
Figuratively Sweet, smooth and musical; pleasant to hear (generally used of a person's voice, tone or writing style).
- […] Socrates […] VVisest of men; from vvhose mouth issued forth / Mellifluous streams that vvater'd all the schools / Of Academicks old and nevv […]1671, John Milton, “(please specify the page)”, in Paradise Regain’d. A Poem. In IV Books. To which is Added, Samson Agonistes, London: […] J[ohn] M[acock] for John Starkey […], →OCLC:
- Join'd to Theſe [birds], / Thouſands beſide, thick as the covering Leaves / VVhich ſpeck them o'er, their Modulations mix / Mellifluous.1728, [James] Thomson, Spring. A Poem, […] A[ndrew] Millar, […]; and G[eorge] Strahan, […], →OCLC, pages 30–31:
4 more examples
- No verses can be more mellifluous than Petrarch's: something of this will perhaps be attributed to the softness of the Italian language; but the English tongue is also capable of it, however obstinately Johnson may have pronounced otherwise.1853, Sir Egerton Brydges, Life of Milton:
- The only novels with which the weary Titan refreshes his mind are those of Thackeray, sometimes of Trollope; the more frivolous sometimes go so far as to sip a little of the honey that falls from the mellifluous lips of Mr A. C. Benson.1918, Walter Lionel George, A Novelist on Novels:
- Certainly, he [Richard Ashcroft] returns explicitly to the sound of Urban Hymns on his fourth solo album: neat, sad strings, unhurried percussion and his mellifluous foghorn of a voice.2016 May 19, Rachel Aroesti, “Richard Ashcroft: These People review”, in Katharine Viner, editor, The Guardian, London: Guardian News & Media, →ISSN, →OCLC:
- His [Roy Orbison's] iconic look, mellifluous croon and timeless songwriting means that he retains a strong fanbase.2017 October 20, Ben Beaumont-Thomas, “In dreams: Roy Orbison hologram to embark on UK tour in 2018”, in Katharine Viner, editor, The Guardian, London: Guardian News & Media, →ISSN, →OCLC:
- Derived terms
- mellifluously, mellifluousness, unmellifluous
- Related terms
- melliloquent, superfluous