In the Soliloquy lexicon
melancholy
A deep, pensive and enduring sadness, often without an obvious cause.
Used in a sentence
A quiet melancholy settled over him as the train departed.
Where it comes from
From Greek melankholia “black bile,” from melas “black” and kholē “bile,” once thought to cause a sorrowful, brooding temperament.
Its journey
Melancholy began in ancient Greek as melankholia, literally “black bile”, from melas “black” and kholē “bile”. In Greek medical theory, an excess of this bodily humour was thought to breed fearfulness and gloom. It travelled through Latin melancholia and Old French melancolie into English, where the diagnosis gradually became the name for a deep, brooding sadness.
Nearby words
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