C19: Hindi, from Sanskrit mēlā an assembly, from mil to meet
mela in American English
(ˈmeilɑː)
noun(in India)
1.
a religious fair, esp. one held in connection with a festival
2.
a throng of people
Word origin
[1790–1800; ‹ Hindi ‹ Skt melā assembly, company]This word is first recorded in the period 1790–1800. Other words that entered Englishat around the same time include: echelon, ideology, infiltration, modular, stereotype
Examples of 'mela' in a sentence
mela
It was the first mela of the millennium.
Times, Sunday Times (2007)
It is like the village mela (fair) without the elephants and magicians.