medley

American  

[med-lee] / ˈmɛd li /

noun

plural

medleys

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

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

Walden’s favorite, an egg yolk-yellow Brahms edition, sits within close reach of his desk chair, where he sat fine-tuning his Oscars best original score medley.

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 13, 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

White wine is added to the clams and the medley of cooked vegetables before the cream is poured in.

From Salon • Feb. 20, 2026

"Right now he's on stage rehearsing," she explained, ahead of her son's performance in the best new artist medley.

From BBC • Feb. 2, 2026

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

From "A Tree Grows in Brooklyn" by Betty Smith