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

Known for creating an indelible VMAs moment when she kissed Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera onstage during a 2003 medley, Madonna also opened the show with her first performance at the event since that night.

From Barron's ● Sep. 28, 2026

It was the world premiere of the medley, which was arranged by Stuart Calvert, and also featured traditional songs like The Bonnie Banks o' Loch Lomond.

From BBC ● Sep. 14, 2026

Through this medley of forms, Mr. Gasda explores the transient nature of art and love and the question of how those passions will survive us.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 1, 2026

The result was her 2024 Roberts Projects exhibit, “Betye Saar: New Work,” an objet trouvé medley in bronze and gold hues.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 27, 2026

On Ms. Holly’s signal, I launch into the medley of songs and the chorus sings along.

From "Amina's Voice" by Hena Khan

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

Her singing and dancing were as magnetic as ever, but in an effort to stuff 40 songs into less than two hours, songs didn’t get enough room to breathe, and most were performed as medleys.

From Seattle Times ● Jun. 22, 2023

The true test is in the second half’s six 800-meters broken up by 100s and eight 400 individual medleys.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 24, 2022

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