Word of the Day

: June 2, 2009

melee

noun MAY-lay

What It Means

: a confused struggle; especially : a hand-to-hand fight among several people

melee in Context

The shoppers' voices grew tense as they argued over the last Cool Sally doll, and for a moment I feared that a melee might erupt.

Did You Know?

"Fray," "donnybrook," "brawl," "fracas": there are many English words for confused and noisy fights, and in the 17th century "melee" was thrown into the mix. It comes from the French "melee," which in turn comes from the Old French "meslee," meaning "mixture." "Meslee" comes from the Old French verb "mesler," or "medler," which means "to mix." This verb is also the source of "medley" ("a mixture or hodgepodge") and "meddle" ("to mix oneself in others' affairs" or "to interfere").