mélange

[ mey-lahnzh, -lahnj ]

/ meɪˈlɑ̃ʒ, -ˈlɑndʒ /

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noun, plural mé·langes

[mey-lahnzh, -lahn-jiz]. /meɪˈlɑ̃ʒ, -ˈlɑn dʒɪz/.

a mixture; medley.

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Origin of mélange

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

Words nearby mélange

melancholy, Melanchthon, Melanesia, Melanesian, Melanesian Pidgin English, mélange, melanic, Melanie, melanin, Melanion, Melanippus

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use mélange in a sentence

Glacial mélange isn’t widespread in the Arctic, and what exists could disappear if temperatures rise too much.
Some polar bears in Greenland survive on surprisingly little sea ice|Nikk Ogasa|June 16, 2022|Science News
Explorations into how matter interacts with biological tissues have yielded coronary stents, artificial skin and hip replacements that include metal mélanges that are tough and nonreactive when they sit against bone.
Materials of the last century shaped modern life, but at a price|Carolyn Wilke|January 28, 2022|Science News
In popular usage now, it refers to a broad mélange of race-related curriculums, claims and anecdotes.
The Scholar Strategy: How ‘critical race theory’ alarms could convert racial anxiety into political energy|Philip Bump|June 15, 2021|Washington Post
That mélange of humanity is played by an exciting cast of actors who recorded their parts remotely from disparate spots across the country.
Studio’s new audio play has nothing to do with holidays|Patrick Folliard|December 11, 2020|Washington Blade

That meant replacing a single space-time geometry with a mélange of possible shapes.
The Most Famous Paradox in Physics Nears Its End|George Musser|October 29, 2020|Quanta Magazine
We began with the robin in this, I hope, not wearisome but entertaining Melange of child-songs.
Children's Rhymes, Children's Games, Children's Songs, Children's Stories|Robert Ford
This father seems to have made a sort of melange of some of the Pentateuchal ordinances.
When Were Our Gospels Written?|Charles Bradlaugh
Melange, get into the carriage and examine the contents of the sword-case and all the little private recesses.
Forgotten Tales of Long Ago|E. V. Lucas
The whole thing is a strange melange of official business and dying gossip!
A Fascinating Traitor|Richard Henry Savage
I have accordingly in the following melange introduced many themes besides political ones.
Complete Prose Works|Walt Whitman

British Dictionary definitions for mélange

melange

mlange

/ (meɪˈlɑːnʒ) /

noun

a mixture; confusion

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

Word Origin for melange

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′ ]

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.

mélange

Origin of mélange

Words nearby mélange

Words related to mélange

How to use mélange in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for mélange

mlange

Word Origin for melange

Scientific definitions for mélange