Definify.com

Webster 1913 Edition

Mellow

Mel′low

,
Adj.
[
Com
par.
Mellower
;
sup
erl.
Mellowest
.]
[OE.
melwe
; cf. AS.
mearu
soft, D.
murw
, Prov. G.
mollig
soft, D.
malsch
, and E.
meal
flour.]
1.
Soft or tender by reason of ripeness; having a tender pulp;
as, a
mellow
apple
.
2.
Hence:
(a)
Easily worked or penetrated; not hard or rigid;
as, a
mellow
soil
.
“Mellow glebe.”
Drayton
(b)
Not coarse, rough, or harsh; subdued; soft; rich; delicate; – said of sound, color, flavor, style, etc.
“The mellow horn.”
Wordsworth.
“The mellow-tasted Burgundy.”
Thomson.
The tender flush whose
mellow
stain imbues
Heaven with all freaks of light.
Percival.
3.
Well matured; softened by years; genial; jovial.
May health return to
mellow
age.
Wordsworth.
As merry and
mellow
an old bachelor as ever followed a hound.
W. Irving.
4.
Warmed by liquor; slightly intoxicated.
Addison.

Mel′low

,
Verb.
T.
[
imp. & p. p.
Mellowed
;
p. pr. & vb. n.
Mellowing
.]
To make mellow.
Shak.
If the Weather prove frosty to
mellow
it [the ground], they do not plow it again till April.
Mortimer.
The fervor of early feeling is tempered and
mellowed
by the ripeness of age.
J. C. Shairp.

Mel′low

,
Verb.
I.
To become mellow;
as, ripe fruit soon
mellows
.
“Prosperity begins to mellow.”
Shak.

Webster 1828 Edition

Mellow

MEL'LOW

,
Adj.
[L. mollis, malus.]
1.
Soft with ripeness; easily yielding to pressure; as a mellow peach or apple; mellow fruit.
2.
Soft to the ear; as a mellow sound; a mellow pipe.
3.
Soft; well pulverized; not indurated or compact; as mellow ground or earth.
4.
Soft and smooth to the taste; as mellow wine.
5.
Soft with liquor; intoxicated; merry.
6.
Soft or easy to the eye.
The tender flush whose mellow stain imbues
Heaven with all freaks of light.

MEL'LOW

,
Verb.
T.
To ripen; to bring to maturity; to soften by ripeness or age.
On foreign mountains may the sun refine
The grape's soft juice and mellow it to wine.
1.
To soften; to pulverize. Earth is mellowed by frost.
2.
To mature; to bring to perfection.
This episode--mellowed into that reputation which time has given it.

MEL'LOW

,
Verb.
I.
To become soft; to be ripened, matured or brought to perfection. Fruit, when taken from the tree, soon mellows. Wine mellows with age.

Definition 2024

mellow

mellow

English

Adjective

mellow ‎(comparative mellower or more mellow, superlative mellowest or most mellow)

  1. Soft or tender by reason of ripeness; having a tender pulp.
    a mellow apple
  2. Easily worked or penetrated; not hard or rigid.
    a mellow soil
    • Drayton
      flowers of rank and mellow glebe
  3. Not coarse, rough, or harsh; subdued, soft, rich, delicate; said of sound, color, flavor, style, etc.
    • Wordsworth
      the mellow horn
    • Thomson
      the mellow-tasted Burgundy
    • Percival
      The tender flush whose mellow stain imbues / Heaven with all freaks of light.
  4. Well matured; softened by years; genial; jovial.
    • Wordsworth
      May health return to mellow age.
    • Washington Irving
      as merry and mellow an old bachelor as ever followed a hound
  5. Relaxed; calm; easygoing; laid-back.
    • 1963, Margery Allingham, chapter 3, in The China Governess:
      Here the stripped panelling was warmly gold and the pictures, mostly of the English school, were mellow and gentle in the afternoon light.
  6. Warmed by liquor, slightly intoxicated, stoned, or high.
    (Can we find and add a quotation of Addison to this entry?)

Derived terms

Translations

Noun

mellow ‎(plural mellows)

  1. A relaxed mood.
    • 1997, Neil A. Hamilton, The ABC-CLIO companion to the 1960s counterculture in America‎, page 258:
      Yet, conversely, some people searched for the mellow ... Hope for flower power had faded, though the journey into the mellow did not
    • 1999, Kurt Andersen, Turn of the century‎, page 508:
      On their third date, Lizzie had actually said to him, "You're sort of harshing my mellow." It made him wonder if she might be stupid, and not just young.

Derived terms

Verb

mellow ‎(third-person singular simple present mellows, present participle mellowing, simple past and past participle mellowed)

  1. (transitive) To make mellow; to relax or soften.
    • The fervour of early feeling is tempered and mellowed by the ripeness of age.
  2. (intransitive) To become mellow.
    • William Shakespeare, Richard III (act 4 scene 4)
      So now prosperity begins to mellow
      And drop into the rotten mouth of death.

Derived terms

Etymology

From Middle English melowe, melwe ‎(“soft, sweet, juicy”), variant of Middle English merow, merwe ‎(“soft, tender”), from Old English meru, mearu ‎(“tender, soft, callow, delicate, frail”), from Proto-Germanic *marwaz ‎(“mellow”), from Proto-Indo-European *mer(w)- ‎(“to rub, pack”). Cognate with Middle Dutch meru ‎(“tender”), German mürbe ‎(“tender, soft”), Swedish mör ‎(“tender; aching”), Icelandic meyr ‎(“tender”).

Pronunciation

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