See also: Medley

English edit

Etymology edit

From Middle English medle, from Anglo-Norman medlee, Old French medlee, from the feminine past participle of early Medieval Latin misculō (to mix). Compare meddle. Doublet of melee.

Pronunciation edit

  • (UK) IPA(key): /ˈmɛdli/
  • (file)
  • Rhymes: -ɛdli

Noun edit

medley (plural medleys)

  1. (now rare, archaic) Combat, fighting; a battle. [from 14thc.]
    • 1485, Sir Thomas Malory, “lxxj”, in Le Morte Darthur, book X:
      Thenne came the kyng of Irland and the kynge of the stryete marches to rescowe syre Tristram and sire Palomydes / There beganne a grete medle / & many knyghtes were smyten doune on bothe partyes / and alweyes sir launcelot spared sir Tristram / and he spared hym
      (please add an English translation of this quotation)
    • 1632, Xenophon, translated by Philemon Holland, Cyrupaedia:
      For greater shields they have, than that they can either doe or see ought, and being raunged by hundreds no doubt they will hinder one another in the medley, except some very few
  2. A collection or mixture of miscellaneous things. [from 17thc.]
    a fruit medley
  3. (music) A collection of related songs played or mixed together as a single piece. [from 17thc.]
    They played a medley of favorite folk songs as an encore.
  4. (swimming) A competitive swimming event that combines the four strokes of butterfly, backstroke, breaststroke, and freestyle. [from 20th c.]
  5. A cloth of mixed colours.
    • 1631, Thomas Fuller, Comment on Ruth , Chapter 1, verses 9, 10, 11:
      Otherwise , as our Saviour noteth , when the old Cloth was joyned to the new , it made no good medley , but the Rent was made the wors

Synonyms edit

Derived terms edit

Related terms edit

Translations edit

Verb edit

medley (third-person singular simple present medleys, present participle medleying, simple past and past participle medleyed)

  1. (music) To combine, to form a medley.

Anagrams edit

Danish edit

Etymology edit

Borrowed from English medley.

Pronunciation edit

  • IPA(key): /mɛdli/, [ˈmɛd̥li]

Noun edit

medley n (singular definite medleyet, plural indefinite medleyer)

  1. medley (of songs; swimming event)
    Carola sang et medley af "Fame" og "Flashdance" ved koncerten.
    Carola sang a medley of "Fame" and "Flashdance" at the concert.

Inflection edit

Dutch edit

Etymology edit

Borrowed from English medley.

Pronunciation edit

  • (file)
  • Hyphenation: med‧ley

Noun edit

medley m (plural medleys, diminutive medleytje n)

  1. several songs strung together.

Synonyms edit

Spanish edit

Etymology edit

Unadapted borrowing from English medley. Doublet of mezclada.

Pronunciation edit

  • IPA(key): /ˈmedlei/ [ˈmeð̞.lei̯]
  • Rhymes: -edlei
  • Syllabification: med‧ley

Noun edit

medley m (plural medleys)

  1. medley (songs)

Usage notes edit

According to Royal Spanish Academy (RAE) prescriptions, unadapted foreign words should be written in italics in a text printed in roman type, and vice versa, and in quotation marks in a manuscript text or when italics are not available. In practice, this RAE prescription is not always followed.

Swedish edit

Etymology edit

Borrowed from English medley.

Noun edit

medley n

  1. medley (songs)