melano-

especially before a vowel, melan-

1. a combining form meaning “black,” used in the formation of compound words.

   melanocyte.

melano-

combining form

1. black or dark

   melanin

   melanism

   melanocyte

   melanoma

Word History and Origins

Origin of melano-¹

From Greek, combining form of mélās “black”

Word History and Origins

Origin of melano-¹

from Greek melas black

Example Sentences

Julia Melano, adviser to the head of Rosselkhoznadzor, said clinics were seeing an increase in vaccination requests from "breeders, pet-owners who travel frequently and also citizens whose animals roam freely", according to the RIA news agency.

Read more on BBC

Clinical trials will end in January and the approval process is likely to begin at the end of February, Yulia Melano, an aide to the head of the agricultural safety watchdog, Rosselkhoznadzor, told Reuters.

Read more on Reuters

Yulia Melano, at the rural inspection service Rosselkhoznadzor, complained that her agency had lost most of its powers to control pesticide use since 2011.

Read more on BBC

Portland nearly put things away for good when Lucas Melano raced down the left side and fired a shot toward the far corner that Frei only barely got his outstretched hand on to knock out of harm’s way.

Read more on Seattle Times

The Timbers thought they had another goal in the 80th minute on Lucas Melano’s rebound, but it was called offside.

Read more on New York Times

When To Use

What does melano- mean?

Melano- is a combining form used like a prefix meaning “black, dark-colored.” In biology and medicine, melano- is specifically used to refer to melanin, “any of a class of insoluble pigments, found in all forms of animal life, that account for the dark color of skin, hair, fur, scales, feathers, etc.”Melano- comes from the Greek mélās, meaning “black.” The word melancholy is also derived in part from this root.What does the Greek word for black have to do with a gloomy state of mind? Discover the connection at our entry and video for melancholy.What are variants of melano-?When combined with words or word elements that begin with a vowel, melano- becomes melan-, as in melanin.