melodeon

or me·lo·di·on

[ muh-loh-dee-uh n ]

/ məˈloʊ di ən /

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR melodeon ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

a small reed organ.

a kind of accordion.

RELATED WORDS

concertina, squeezebox

Nearby words

Origin of melodeon

1840–50, Americanism; < German, formed on Melodie melody; see accordion

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for melodeon

But I could hear it for a long time, and it the grandest I ever heard—and like a melodeon.
Visions and Beliefs in the West of Ireland, Second Series|Lady Gregory
Besides, those who sat in front began to be discontented with the melodeon.
Backlog Studies|Charles Dudley Warner
The melodeon climbed to two dollars, with comparative rapidity.
The Happy Venture|Edith Ballinger Price
She could not imagine how the singing could be anything without her voice and the melodeon.
Watch Yourself Go By|Al. G. Field

You do not like it much, any more than he would like a melodeon or a piano.
The Women of the Arabs|Henry Harris Jessup

British Dictionary definitions for melodeon

melodeon

melodion

/ (mɪˈləʊdɪən) /

noun music

a type of small accordion

a type of keyboard instrument similar to the harmonium

Word Origin for melodeon

C19: from German, from Melodie melody

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

Word Origin and History for melodeon

melodeon

1847, variant of melodion, from German Melopdoin, from Melodie, from Old French melodie (see melody).