A black variety of garnet.

A group of the human race, including the dark whites.

Having a dark complexion; of or pertaining to the Melanochroi.

A mineral of a red, or brownish or yellowish red color. It is a chromate of lead; -- called also phoenicocroite.

Having very dark or black hair; black-haired.

A tumor containing dark pigment. Such tumors are usually malignant and often fatal. Development of dark-pigmented tumors.

An East Indian genus of large trees. Melanorrh/a usitatissima is the lignum-vitae of Pegu (in Burma), and yields a valuable black varnish.

An instrument containing a combination of colored glasses such that they transmit only red light, so that objects of other colors, as green leaves, appear black when seen through it. It is used for viewing colored flames, to detect the presence of potassium, lithium, etc., by the red light which they emit.

An alga of any kind that produces blackish spores, or seed dust. The melanosperms include the rockweeds and all kinds of kelp.

Melanistic.

A positive picture produced with sensitized collodion on a smooth surface of black varnish, coating a thin plate of iron; also, the process of making such a picture.

A hydrous sulphate of iron of a green color and vitreous luster; iron vitriol.

A small fish of the Mediterranean; a gilthead. See Gilthead (a).

Pertaining to, or designating, a complex nitrogenous acid obtained by decomposition of melam, or of urea, as a white crystalline powder; -- called also melanurenic acid.

Any one of several dark-colored augitic, eruptive rocks allied to basalt.

A dark discoloration of the skin, usually local; as, Addison's melasma, or Addison's disease.

See Molasses.

Pertaining to, or designating, an acid obtained from molasses or glucose, and probably identical with saccharic acid (also called D-glucaric acid or tetrahydroxyadipic acid). See Saccharic.

A genus of evergreen tropical shrubs; -- so called from the black berries of some species, which stain the mouth.

Belonging to the order of which Melastoma is the type.

A hormone secreted by the pineal gland. Chemically it is N-acety-5-methoxytryptamine. Research has indicated that there are daily rhythms in secretion of melatonin, in particular due to the depressing effect on melatonin production by light received by the retina. Conversely it appears that melatonin may influence the circadian rhythms of animals. There is some experimental evidence that administration of melatonin may increase the amount of sleep in people with sleep disorders. However, the evidence is not convincing and the effect is not profound. Nevertheless, the deregulation of melatonin and its availability over-the-counter has led to many people taking melatonin to help sleep, without consulting a physician.

One of a sect, chiefly in Syria and Egypt, which acknowledges the authority of the pope, but adheres to the liturgy and ceremonies of the Eastern Church.

In the game of pinochle, to declare or announce for a score; as, to meld a sequence.

Any combination or score which may be declared, or melded, in pinochle.

A natural family of fowls including the turkeys and some extinct forms.

Of or pertaining to the genus Meleagris.

A genus of American gallinaceous birds, including the common turkey and the wild turkeys.

A fight in which the combatants are mingled in one confused mass; a hand to hand conflict; an affray.

See Melaena.

An unsaturated hydrocarbon, C30H60, of the ethylene series, obtained from beeswax as a white, scaly, crystalline wax; -- called also melissene, and melissylene.

An explosive of great destructive power; -- so called from its color, which resembles honey.

See Quercitin.

A variety of sugar, isomeric with sucrose, extracted from the manna of the larch (Larix).

Pertaining to a natural order (Meliacae) of plants of which the genus Melia is the type. It includes the mahogany and the Spanish cedar.

Alternately responsive, as verses.

Consisting of or containing matter like honey; -- said of certain encysted tumors.

See Melocoton.

A meadlike drink.

A mineral occurring in small yellow crystals, found in the lavas (melilite basalt) of Vesuvius, and elsewhere.

Any species of Melilotus, a genus of leguminous herbs having a vanillalike odor; sweet clover; hart's clover. The blue melilot (Melilotus caerulea) is used in Switzerland to give color and flavor to sapsago cheese.

Of, pertaining to, or obtained from, sweet clover or melilot; specifically, designating an acid of the aromatic series, obtained from melilot as a white crystalline substance.

A subdivision of mammals not used in some classifications; it includes the badgers.

A high explosive similar to lyddite, consisting principally of picric acid, used in the French military service.

To grow better.

Same as Meliorator.

The act or operation of meliorating, or the state of being meliorated; improvement.

One who meliorates.

The doctrine that there is a tendency throughout nature toward improvement.

The state or quality of being better; melioration.

Any bird of the genus Meliphaga and allied genera; a honey eater; -- called also meliphagidan.

Eating, or feeding upon, honey.

A piece of melody; a song or tune, -- as opposed to recitative or musical declamation. A grace or embellishment.

A genus of labiate herbs, including the balm, or bee balm (Melissa officinalis).

Pertaining to, or derived from, beeswax; specif., denoting an acid obtained by oxidation of myricin.

See Myricyl.

See Melene.

A variety of sugar isomeric with sucrose, extracted from cotton seeds and from the so-called Australian manna (a secretion of certain species of Eucalyptus).

A mill.

A mellitate.

A m/l/e; a conflict.

Producing honey.

Producing honey.

The making or production of honey.

A flow of sweetness, or a sweet, smooth flow.

Flowing as with honey; smooth; mellifluous.

In a mellifluent manner.

Flowing as with honey; smooth; flowing sweetly or smoothly; as, a mellifluous voice.

Having the qualities of honey.

Honeydew.

Speaking sweetly or harmoniously.

See Meliphagan.

See Meliphagous.

A salt of mellitic acid.

A mineral of a honey color, found in brown coal, and partly the result of vegetable decomposition; honeystone. It is a mellitate of alumina.

Containing saccharine matter; marked by saccharine secretions; as, mellitic diabetes. Pertaining to, or derived from, the mineral mellite.

A yellow powder, C6H3N9, obtained from certain sulphocyanates. It has acid properties and forms compounds called mellonides.

See Mellone.

To become mellow; as, ripe fruit soon mellows.

having a mild and pleasing flavor through proper aging.

The act or process of acquiring desirable qualities by being left undisturbed for some time.

In a mellow manner.

Quality or state of being mellow.

Soft; unctuous.

A climbing plant (Ullucus officinalis) of the Andes, having tuberous roots which are used as a substitute for potatoes.

A mill.

A quince. A kind of peach having one side deep red, and the flesh yellow.

Of the nature of melody; relating to, containing, or made up of, melody; melodious.

The branch of musical science which treats of the pitch of tones, and of the laws of melody.

A contrivance for preserving a record of music, by recording the action of the keys of a musical instrument when played upon.

Containing, or producing, melody; musical; agreeable to the ear by a sweet succession of sounds; as, a melodious voice.

A composer or singer of melodies.

To make melody; to compose melodies; to harmonize.

Formerly, a kind of drama having a musical accompaniment to intensify the effect of certain scenes. Now, a drama abounding in romantic sentiment and agonizing situations, with a musical accompaniment only in parts which are especially thrilling or pathetic. In opera, a passage in which the orchestra plays a somewhat descriptive accompaniment, while the actor speaks; as, the melodrama in the gravedigging scene of Beethoven's /Fidelio/.

Of or pertaining to melodrama; like or suitable to a melodrama; unnatural in situation or action.

One who acts in, or writes, melodramas.

Melodrama.

Same as Melodiograph.

A beetle belongoing to the family Meloidae.

A natural family of insects comprising the blister beetles.

A natural subfamily of beetles, considered a separate family in some classification systems.

A beetle of the genus Melolontha, and allied genera. See May beetle, under May.

A piano having a mechanical attachment which enables the player to prolong the notes at will.

Of or pertaining to meloplasty, or the artificial formation of a new cheek.

The process of restoring a cheek which has been destroyed wholly or in part.

The art of forming melody; melody; -- now often used for a melodic passage, rather than a complete melody.

A South American herb (Madia sativa) with sticky glandular foliage; it is a source of madia oil.

A genus of American song sparrows and swamp sparrows.

A picture produced by a process in which development after exposure may be deferred indefinitely, so as to permit transportation of exposed plates; also, the process itself.

The Muse of tragedy.

Honey of roses.

To be changed from a solid to a liquid state under the influence of heat; as, butter and wax melt at moderate temperatures.

Capable of being melted.

One who, or that which, melts.

Causing to melt; becoming melted; -- used literally or figuratively; as, a melting heat; a melting appeal; a melting mood.

A vessel in which anything is melted; a crucible.

A kind of stout woolen cloth with unfinished face and without raised nap. A commoner variety has a cotton warp.

One of a mixed white and Indian people living in parts of Tennessee and the Carolinas. They are descendants of early intermixtures of white settlers with natives. In North Carolina the Croatan Indians, regarded as descended from Raleigh's lost colony of Croatan, formerly classed with negroes, are now legally recognized as distinct.

A genus of mammals including the sloth bears; in some classifications not a separate genus from Ursus.

Herman Melville, American novelist, author of Moby Dick; b. 1819, d. 1891.

the 13th letter of the Hebrew alphabet.