mêléen.

Brit.

/ˈmɛleɪ/,

/mɛˈleɪ/, U.S.

/ˈmeɪleɪ/

Forms: 1600s meslee, 1700s 1900s– melée, 1700s– mêlée, 1800s– melee, 1900s melé.

Origin: A borrowing from French. Etymon: French mêlée.

Etymology: < French mêlée, †meslee a quarrel, a mixture (see medley n.). Compare earlier medley n. and mellay n.With sense 3 compare Dutch mêlée (also Afrikaans melee, mellie) mixed small diamonds: this sense does not appear to be attested for the word in French.

a. A battle or engagement at close quarters, a hand-to-hand fight; a skirmish; a confused struggle or scuffle, esp. one involving many people. Also historical: a tournament involving two groups of combatants.

ΘΚΠ

society > society and the community > dissent > fighting > [noun] > a fight

bicker1297

fightc1300

tirpeilc1330

ragea1393

stradec1400

intermell1489

cockfighta1513

skirm1534

bustle1579

pell-mellc1586

brabble1587

jostle1607

scufflea1616

counterbuff1632

mêléea1648

roil1690

tussle1749

scrimmage1780

turn-up1810

scrape1812

pounding match1815

mellay1819

struggle1840

mix-up1841

scrap1846

rough-up1891

turn-to1893

push and shove1895

bagarre1897

stoush1908

dogfight1910

bundle1936

sort-out1937

yike1940

bassa-bassa1956

punch-up1958

thump-up1967

a1648 Ld. Herbert Life (1976) 33 I cannot deny but a Demivolte with Courbettes soe that they bee not too high may bee vsefull in a fight or Meslee.

1786 F. Grose Mil. Antiq. I. 135 In the melée which sometimes attended the ancient method of fighting hand to hand, an awkward man would be as like to knock down his friend as his enemy.

1819 W. Scott Ivanhoe I. viii. 162 ‘Are you not tempted to take the lance?’ ‘I shall tilt to-morrow’ answered Athelstane, ‘in the mêlée.’

1837 W. Irving Adventures Capt. Bonneville II. 100 In this mêlée, one white man was wounded.

1850 R. W. Emerson Napoleon in Representative Men vi. 232 The Austrians were between him and his troops, in the melée, and he was brought off with desperate efforts.

1871 J. Leighton Paris under Commune lxviii. 243 Already, yesterday the mêlée of a battle could be distinguished from the fort of Vauves.

a1911 D. G. Phillips Susan Lenox (1917) I. xv. 264 Violet seized Mabel by the hair, and the men interfered, all but coming to blows themselves in the mêlée.

1975 ‘W. Allen’ Without Feathers (1976) 209 Police ended the melee but not before a relative of J. P. Morgan's was wounded in the soft palate.

1988 D. A. Thomas Compan. Royal Navy iii. 251/1 Other admirals..failed to break through. The result was a mêlée.

b. In extended use: a disagreement or contention; a confused or heated debate among many participants; a throng.

ΘΚΠ

society > society and the community > dissent > quarrel or quarrelling > [noun] > noisy or angry quarrel > instance of

ganglinga1387

altercation1410

brawla1500

heat1549

wranglea1555

brabble1566

paroxysm1578

wrangling1580

brangle1600

branglement1617

rixation1623

row1746

skimmington1753

mêlée1765

breeze1785

squeal1788

hash1789

rook1808

blow-up1809

blowout1825

scena1826

reerie1832

catfight1854

barney1855

wigs on the green1856

bull and cow1859

scrap1890

slanging match1896

snap1897

up-and-downer1927

brannigan1941

rhubarb1941

bitch fight1949

punch-up1958

shout-up1965

shouting match1970

1765 H. Walpole Let. 18 Apr. (1857) IV. 346 I almost wish for anything that may put an end to my being concerned in the mêlée [sc. discord among members of the government].

1839 C. M. Kirkland New Home xxviii. 185 In the scramble which ensued, we took leave; wondering no longer at the destitution of the Newlands, or of the other families of the same class, whose young people we had recognized in the melee.

1850 M. Stuart Conscience & Constit. 7 My increasing age and my many infirmities have given me a disrelish for the mêlée of political contest.

1871 W. Elder Questions of Day 224 To expose the weak to the strong; to make the markets of the country a melee of the nations; is just such a privilege as the rough-shod donkey offered to the chickens in the barn-yard [etc.].

1955 Times 23 Aug. 9/3 As Mr. Butler had introduced a free-for-all, the argument ran, the unions felt they must join in the general mêlée.

1971 D. Potter Brit. Elizabethan Stamps i. 15 Stamps were solemnly discussed in the financial columns,..and get-rich-quick operators joined in the mêlée.

1988 J. Archer Twist in Tale 163 The short journey took them some time because of the mêlée of people that were always thronging the streets night and day.

2. A confusion, jumble; a medley, a mixture.

ΘΚΠ

the world > relative properties > order > disorder > confusion or disorder > [noun]

brabbling1530

confusion1530

ruffle1533

pell-mellc1586

confusedness1587

huddle1606

Babel confusion1653

promiscuity1663

hugger-mugger1674

promiscuousness1676

clutter1692

jumblement1706

muddle1808

embranglement1826

mare's nest1837

muddlement1857

muddledom1891

muddliness1891

mêlée1895

mix-up1898

huddledom1923

buggeration1962

mixed-upness1967

1857 De Bow's Rev. July 98 It would be difficult..to foreshadow the influences and melee of a fifteen million loan to Comonfort.]

1895 S. Crane Red Badge of Courage xx. 189 There was a melee of screeches, in which the men were ordered to do conflicting and impossible things.

1924 Amer. Mercury Nov. 374/1 The opening act smacks..of Stephen Leacock, with the audience trying vainly to single out this character from that in a Mêlée of such monickers and cognominations as Ugo Praga, Luigi Bunghi, Mario Grazia [etc.].

1965 New Statesman 7 May 736/1 The technical mêlée of..early Renaissance polyphony and sensuous post-Wagnerian harmony.

1991 Twenty Twenty Spring 82/1 Whatever the Ridleys or the Thatchers of this country attempt to do to isolate Britain..we will inevitably be drawn into a mêlée of cross-cultural fertilisation.

3. As a mass noun: small diamonds of mixed size less than about a carat in weight. Also as a count noun: a mixture of such diamonds.

ΘΚΠ

society > occupation and work > materials > raw material > gem or precious stone > diamond > [noun] > collectively > small

mêlée1911

1911 L. Cohen Reminisc. Kimberley xv. 267 On a certain day I had entrusted him with two or three hundred carats of melée—small stones—to sell.

1920 Daily Tel. 22 June 1/2 Stones of various weights from 1¾ carats downwards, and a quantity of melee.

1972 Daily Tel. 30 June (Colour Suppl.) 10/2 Stones under one carat, known as Melée, are divided into fewer categories, but with subdivisions of these main ones according to colour, quality.., and of course size, there are well over 2,000 kinds.

1989 F. Forsyth Negotiator x. 241 But in picking melees (mixtures) of medium-quantity gems between a fifth and half a carat the kidnappers had gone for an area of the trade that is almost uncontrollable.

This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2001; most recently modified version published online March 2022).

单词	mêlée
释义	mêléen. Brit. /ˈmɛleɪ/, /mɛˈleɪ/, U.S. /ˈmeɪleɪ/ Forms: 1600s meslee, 1700s 1900s– melée, 1700s– mêlée, 1800s– melee, 1900s melé. Origin: A borrowing from French. Etymon: French mêlée. Etymology: < French mêlée, †meslee a quarrel, a mixture (see medley n.). Compare earlier medley n. and mellay n.With sense 3 compare Dutch mêlée (also Afrikaans melee, mellie) mixed small diamonds: this sense does not appear to be attested for the word in French. 1. a. A battle or engagement at close quarters, a hand-to-hand fight; a skirmish; a confused struggle or scuffle, esp. one involving many people. Also historical: a tournament involving two groups of combatants. ΘΚΠ society > society and the community > dissent > fighting > [noun] > a fight bicker1297 fightc1300 tirpeilc1330 ragea1393 stradec1400 intermell1489 cockfighta1513 skirm1534 bustle1579 pell-mellc1586 brabble1587 jostle1607 scufflea1616 counterbuff1632 mêléea1648 roil1690 tussle1749 scrimmage1780 turn-up1810 scrape1812 pounding match1815 mellay1819 struggle1840 mix-up1841 scrap1846 rough-up1891 turn-to1893 push and shove1895 bagarre1897 stoush1908 dogfight1910 bundle1936 sort-out1937 yike1940 bassa-bassa1956 punch-up1958 thump-up1967 a1648 Ld. Herbert Life (1976) 33 I cannot deny but a Demivolte with Courbettes soe that they bee not too high may bee vsefull in a fight or Meslee. 1786 F. Grose Mil. Antiq. I. 135 In the melée which sometimes attended the ancient method of fighting hand to hand, an awkward man would be as like to knock down his friend as his enemy. 1819 W. Scott Ivanhoe I. viii. 162 ‘Are you not tempted to take the lance?’ ‘I shall tilt to-morrow’ answered Athelstane, ‘in the mêlée.’ 1837 W. Irving Adventures Capt. Bonneville II. 100 In this mêlée, one white man was wounded. 1850 R. W. Emerson Napoleon in Representative Men vi. 232 The Austrians were between him and his troops, in the melée, and he was brought off with desperate efforts. 1871 J. Leighton Paris under Commune lxviii. 243 Already, yesterday the mêlée of a battle could be distinguished from the fort of Vauves. a1911 D. G. Phillips Susan Lenox (1917) I. xv. 264 Violet seized Mabel by the hair, and the men interfered, all but coming to blows themselves in the mêlée. 1975 ‘W. Allen’ Without Feathers (1976) 209 Police ended the melee but not before a relative of J. P. Morgan's was wounded in the soft palate. 1988 D. A. Thomas Compan. Royal Navy iii. 251/1 Other admirals..failed to break through. The result was a mêlée. b. In extended use: a disagreement or contention; a confused or heated debate among many participants; a throng. ΘΚΠ society > society and the community > dissent > quarrel or quarrelling > [noun] > noisy or angry quarrel > instance of ganglinga1387 altercation1410 brawla1500 heat1549 wranglea1555 brabble1566 paroxysm1578 wrangling1580 brangle1600 branglement1617 rixation1623 row1746 skimmington1753 mêlée1765 breeze1785 squeal1788 hash1789 rook1808 blow-up1809 blowout1825 scena1826 reerie1832 catfight1854 barney1855 wigs on the green1856 bull and cow1859 scrap1890 slanging match1896 snap1897 up-and-downer1927 brannigan1941 rhubarb1941 bitch fight1949 punch-up1958 shout-up1965 shouting match1970 1765 H. Walpole Let. 18 Apr. (1857) IV. 346 I almost wish for anything that may put an end to my being concerned in the mêlée [sc. discord among members of the government]. 1839 C. M. Kirkland New Home xxviii. 185 In the scramble which ensued, we took leave; wondering no longer at the destitution of the Newlands, or of the other families of the same class, whose young people we had recognized in the melee. 1850 M. Stuart Conscience & Constit. 7 My increasing age and my many infirmities have given me a disrelish for the mêlée of political contest. 1871 W. Elder Questions of Day 224 To expose the weak to the strong; to make the markets of the country a melee of the nations; is just such a privilege as the rough-shod donkey offered to the chickens in the barn-yard [etc.]. 1955 Times 23 Aug. 9/3 As Mr. Butler had introduced a free-for-all, the argument ran, the unions felt they must join in the general mêlée. 1971 D. Potter Brit. Elizabethan Stamps i. 15 Stamps were solemnly discussed in the financial columns,..and get-rich-quick operators joined in the mêlée. 1988 J. Archer Twist in Tale 163 The short journey took them some time because of the mêlée of people that were always thronging the streets night and day. 2. A confusion, jumble; a medley, a mixture. ΘΚΠ the world > relative properties > order > disorder > confusion or disorder > [noun] brabbling1530 confusion1530 ruffle1533 pell-mellc1586 confusedness1587 huddle1606 Babel confusion1653 promiscuity1663 hugger-mugger1674 promiscuousness1676 clutter1692 jumblement1706 muddle1808 embranglement1826 mare's nest1837 muddlement1857 muddledom1891 muddliness1891 mêlée1895 mix-up1898 huddledom1923 buggeration1962 mixed-upness1967 1857 De Bow's Rev. July 98 It would be difficult..to foreshadow the influences and melee of a fifteen million loan to Comonfort.] 1895 S. Crane Red Badge of Courage xx. 189 There was a melee of screeches, in which the men were ordered to do conflicting and impossible things. 1924 Amer. Mercury Nov. 374/1 The opening act smacks..of Stephen Leacock, with the audience trying vainly to single out this character from that in a Mêlée of such monickers and cognominations as Ugo Praga, Luigi Bunghi, Mario Grazia [etc.]. 1965 New Statesman 7 May 736/1 The technical mêlée of..early Renaissance polyphony and sensuous post-Wagnerian harmony. 1991 Twenty Twenty Spring 82/1 Whatever the Ridleys or the Thatchers of this country attempt to do to isolate Britain..we will inevitably be drawn into a mêlée of cross-cultural fertilisation. 3. As a mass noun: small diamonds of mixed size less than about a carat in weight. Also as a count noun: a mixture of such diamonds. ΘΚΠ society > occupation and work > materials > raw material > gem or precious stone > diamond > [noun] > collectively > small mêlée1911 1911 L. Cohen Reminisc. Kimberley xv. 267 On a certain day I had entrusted him with two or three hundred carats of melée—small stones—to sell. 1920 Daily Tel. 22 June 1/2 Stones of various weights from 1¾ carats downwards, and a quantity of melee. 1972 Daily Tel. 30 June (Colour Suppl.) 10/2 Stones under one carat, known as Melée, are divided into fewer categories, but with subdivisions of these main ones according to colour, quality.., and of course size, there are well over 2,000 kinds. 1989 F. Forsyth Negotiator x. 241 But in picking melees (mixtures) of medium-quantity gems between a fifth and half a carat the kidnappers had gone for an area of the trade that is almost uncontrollable. This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2001; most recently modified version published online March 2022). < n.a1648
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