mélange

[ mey-lahnzh, -lahnj ]
See synonyms for mélange on Thesaurus.com
noun,plural mé·langes [mey-lahnzh, -lahn-jiz]. /meɪˈlɑ̃ʒ, -ˈlɑn dʒɪz/.
  1. a mixture; medley.

Origin of mélange

1
1645–55; <French; Old French meslance, equivalent to mesl(er) to mix (see meddle) + -ance noun suffix ≪ Germanic -ingō-ing1

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British Dictionary definitions for melange

melange

mlange

/ (meɪˈlɑːnʒ) /


noun
  1. a mixture; confusion

  2. geology a totally disordered mixture of rocks of different shapes, sizes, ages, and origins

Origin of melange

1
C17: from French mêler to mix. See medley

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Scientific definitions for mélange

mélange

[ mā-läɴzh ]


  1. A metamorphic rock formation created from materials scraped off the top of a downward moving tectonic plate in a subduction zone. Mélanges occur where plates of oceanic crust subduct beneath plates of continental crust, as along the western coast of South America. They consist of intensely deformed marine sediments and ocean-floor basalts and are characterized by the lack of regular strata, the inclusion of fragments and blocks of various rock types, and the presence of minerals that form only under high pressure and low temperature conditions.

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