medley

American  

[med-lee] / ˈmɛd li /

noun

medleys plural

1. a mixture, especially of heterogeneous elements; hodgepodge; jumble.

2. a piece of music combining tunes or passages from various sources.

   a medley of hit songs from Broadway shows.

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adjective

1. Archaic. mixed; mingled.

medley British  

/ ˈmɛdlɪ /

noun

1. a mixture of various types or elements

2. a musical composition consisting of various tunes arranged as a continuous whole

3. Also called: medley relay. 

   1. swimming a race in which a different stroke is used for each length

   2. athletics a relay race in which each leg has a different distance

4. an archaic word for melee

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adjective

1. of, being, or relating to a mixture or variety

Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• medleys
  plural

Etymology

Origin of medley

First recorded in 1300–50; Middle English noun and adjective medle(e), medlei(e), maedlai(e) “battle, war, quarrel; mixture, balanced mixture,” from Anglo-French, Old French medlee, mellee, noun and adjective use of feminine of past participle of medler “to mix, fight”; see origin at meddle

Explanation

If you can't decide which of three songs to play, why not play a medley? A medley is one piece of music, made up of passages from other songs. Medley comes from the Old French word medlee which meant — eek! — hand-to-hand combat. There are times, like when watching the Academy Awards, that a really long medley accompanied by, say, mimes, might make you want to engage in battle, but a better way to remember this word is that it is related to the word, meddle, which means to get mixed up in someone's business.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

medley medleys

Lauryn Hill received the inaugural living legend icon award, and made a surprise performance after a star-stdded tribute medley featuring Nas, SZA, Doechii, Lizzo, Doja Cat, Common and Queen Latifah.

From BBC ● Jun. 29, 2026

The fishtail halter dress, made from an African wax Akara fabric picked out by Mpamaugo’s mother, was a medley of shapes, patterns and colors.

From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 9, 2026

There were unmistakable echoes of his old group in the whirlwind medley of the title track and the honey-dripping ballad “Bluebird.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 27, 2026

The 21-year-old produced a stunning performance while competing to a medley from "The Lost Crown" video game, scoring 108.16 points to put him in pole position going into Friday's free skating final.

From Barron's ● Feb. 10, 2026

The place was a medley of shouting kids, beaming parents and rushed waiters.

From "A Tree Grows in Brooklyn" by Betty Smith

Jelly of the Month Club hits every beat and chord with precision, with arrangements of songs and medleys that bring together the power of rock’s past with the whimsy of “Peanuts.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 13, 2026

Want to cut a song with several others to make the medleys fans are used to, and create choreography that fits to each moment within the mix?

From Slate ● Nov. 30, 2024

Its 208 pages, bound by a cranberry-colored cover, are crammed with technical jargon and medleys of elaborate mathematical equations.

From New York Times ● Jul. 9, 2023

This special anniversary celebration will hear the New World Players chamber ensemble perform music live at Benaroya Hall from the Final Fantasy video game series with everything from character themes to battle medleys.

From Seattle Times ● Mar. 23, 2023

Each of us is a self-contained, free-standing individual, labeled by specific protein configurations at the surfaces of cells, identifiable by whorls of fingertip skin, maybe even by special medleys of fragrance.

From "The Lives of a Cell" by Lewis Thomas