mellifluous
[muh-lif-loo-uhs]
- sweetly or smoothly flowing; sweet-sounding: a mellifluous voice; mellifluous tones.
- flowing with honey; sweetened with or as if with honey.
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Origin of mellifluous
1375–1425; late Middle English < Late Latin mellifluus, equivalent to Latin melli- (stem of mel) honey + -flu(ere) to flow + -us adj. suffix (see -ous)
Synonyms
See more synonyms for on Thesaurus.comDictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for mellifluously
Contemporary Examples
The real revelation, though, is the mellifluously named Holliday Grainger.
Historical Examples
"And if not, angelic breasts do not harbor resentment long," said Don Inocencio mellifluously.
Dona PerfectaB. Perez Galdos
“I'll put it up when you stop speakin' mellifluously of my friends,” declared the barber.
The DebtorMary E. Wilkins Freeman
mellifluous
mellifluent
- (of sounds or utterances) smooth or honeyed; sweet
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Word Origin
C15: from Late Latin mellifluus flowing with honey, from Latin mel honey + fluere to flow
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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Word Origin and History for mellifluously
mellifluous
adj.
early 15c., "sweet, pleasing" (of an odor, a style of speaking or writing, etc.), from Late Latin mellifluus "flowing with (or as if with) honey," from Latin mel (genitive mellis) "honey" (related to Greek meli "honey;" see Melissa) + -fluus "flowing," from fluere "to flow" (see fluent). Related: Melifluously; melifluousness.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper