medley
[ med-lee ]
/ ˈmɛd li /
Save This Word!
noun, plural med·leys.
a mixture, especially of heterogeneous elements; hodgepodge; jumble.
a piece of music combining tunes or passages from various sources: a medley of hit songs from Broadway shows.
adjective
Archaic. mixed; mingled.
QUIZZES
QUIZ YOURSELF ON “ITS” VS. “IT’S”!
Apostrophes can be tricky; prove you know the difference between it’s and its in this crafty quiz!
Question 1 of 12
On the farm, the feed for chicks is significantly different from the roosters’; ______ not even comparable.
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
Words nearby medley
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2021
Example sentences from the Web for medley
British Dictionary definitions for medley
medley
/ (ˈmɛdlɪ) /
noun
a mixture of various types or elements
a musical composition consisting of various tunes arranged as a continuous whole
Also called: medley relay
- swimming a race in which a different stroke is used for each length
- athletics a relay race in which each leg has a different distance
an archaic word for melee
adjective
of, being, or relating to a mixture or variety
Word Origin for medley
C14: from Old French medlee, from medler to mix, quarrel
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