mélange

noun

mé·​lange mā-ˈlänj  mā-ˈläⁿzh 

: a mixture often of incongruous elements

a mélange of architectural styles

Did you know?

Mélange got mixed into the melting pot of English back in the 1600s. It derives from the Middle French verb mesler, which means "to mix." "Mélange" is actually one of several French contributions to the English body of words for miscellaneous mixtures. "Pastiche" (meaning "a composition made up of selections of different works," or broadly, "a disorderly mixture, hodgepodge") is borrowed from French, and "medley" and "potpourri" have roots in French, too. There's also the lesser known "gallimaufry" (meaning "hodgepodge"), which comes from the Middle French galimafree (meaning "stew").

Synonyms

• medley
• jumble
• collage
• variety

Examples of mélange in a Sentence

a mélange of colors and shapes

a mélange of architectural styles

Word History

Etymology

borrowed from French, "act of mixing, mixture," going back to Middle French meslinges, meslanges (plural), from mesler, meler "to mix" + -ange, deverbal action noun suffix (as in Old French loange "praise," vuidange "emptying, outlet"), borrowed from Old Low Franconian *-inga-, *-unga-, going back to Germanic *-ingō, *-ungō — more at meddle, -ing entry 1

First Known Use

1653, in the meaning defined above

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Kids Definition

mélange

noun

mé·​lange mā-ˈlänzh  -ˈlänj 

: a mixture often of dissimilar elements