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melic

[mel-ik]
adjective
  1. intended to be sung.
  2. noting or pertaining to the more elaborate form of Greek lyric poetry, as distinguished from iambic and elegiac poetry.
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Origin of melic

1690–1700; < Greek melikós, equivalent to mél(os) limb, song + -ikos -ic
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for melic

Historical Examples

  • Although the metre and dialect are Dorian, the poems breathe the spirit of Aeolian melic poetry.

    Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 14, Slice 2

    Various

British Dictionary definitions for melic

melic

adjective
  1. (of poetry, esp ancient Greek lyric poems) intended to be sung
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Word Origin

C17: via Latin from Greek melikos, from melos song
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