melic
Americanadjective
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intended to be sung.
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noting or pertaining to the more elaborate form of Greek lyric poetry, as distinguished from iambic and elegiac poetry.
adjective
Etymology
Origin of melic
First recorded in 1690–1700; from Latin melicus, from Greek melikós, equivalent to mél(os) “limb; feature, form; musical member or phrase, song” + -ikos -ic
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Such is this island beach where Poe once walked, And heard the melic throbbing of the sea, With muffled sound of harbor bells— Bells—he loved bells!
From Carolina Chansons Legends of the Low Country by Heyward, DuBose
In this period, epic poetry declined, and lyric poetry took its place in the three forms of elegiac, iambic, and melic; the arts, too, were beginning to be cultivated.
From Greek Women by Carroll, Mitchell
The Greeks, even in their melic poetry, saw no need for it.
From Open Water by Stringer, Arthur
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
