Melancholy Presentation

Etymology of Melancholy

by kyle Jacques

Contents

02

Melan-

03

+ Choly

"Not from the stars do I my judgement pluck" - Shakespeare, Sonnet 14

01

Definition

04

Origins

05

Quote

07

Sources

06

Thank you!

Definition

(noun) - a feeling of being very sad that lasts for a long time and often cannot be explained

Melan-

- From the PIE root "melh-" meaning black, darkish color- Greek "melano-" meaining black, dark, murkey

+ Choly

- From "Cholera"- Greek "Khole" meaning bile

Origins

The story of a word

1180

Old French

melancolie used to describe "profound sadness"

1300

Old French

Used to describe a "mental disorder characterized by sullenness, gloom, irritability, and propensity to causeless and violent anger"

Author's Note

Old Medicine

Depressive mood disorders were originally though to be caused by a build up of black bile within someones psyche.

Mid-1400s

Middle English

Used to express sorrow or gloom, brought on by love, disapointment, etc.

Late 1500s

Modern English

Used to represent an expression of sadness

1700s

Modern English

Used to portray something "fitted to produce sadness or gloom"

1816

Modern French

Used to denote mental illness characterized by depression

Now

American English

One of my boyfriend's favorite words.

"A short vessell, whereby the splene belcheth vp melancolye into the ventricle."

J. Banister - Anatomist - 1578

Thank You

Oxford Learners Dictionaries

Online Etymology Dictionary

Sources

Oxford English Dictionary

Wikipedia

Daily Art Magazine

Melencolia I

Carving by Albrecht Dürer Made in 1514 A piece presenting the three types of melancholy described by German humanist writer Cornelius Agrippa.- Imagination - Mind -Reason