mélange

[ mey-lahnzh, -lahnj ]

noun

, plural mé·langes [mey-, lahnzh, -, lahn, -jiz].

1. a mixture; medley.

melange

/ meɪˈlɑːnʒ /

noun

1. a mixture; confusion
2. geology a totally disordered mixture of rocks of different shapes, sizes, ages, and origins

mélange

/ mā-länzh′ /

1. A metamorphic rock formation created from materials scraped off the top of a downward moving tectonic plate in a subduction zone. Mélanges occur where plates of oceanic crust subduct beneath plates of continental crust, as along the western coast of South America. They consist of intensely deformed marine sediments and ocean-floor basalts and are characterized by the lack of regular strata, the inclusion of fragments and blocks of various rock types, and the presence of minerals that form only under high pressure and low temperature conditions.

Word History and Origins

Origin of mélange¹

1645–55; < French; Old French meslance, equivalent to mesl ( er ) to mix ( meddle ) + -ance noun suffix ≪ Germanic -ingō -ing ¹

Word History and Origins

Origin of mélange¹

C17: from French mêler to mix. See medley

Example Sentences

France was the host, and their team was a mélange of skin tones and shaved heads the likes of which had never been seen before.

From The Daily Beast

Gabor is a kind of Man Ray, Lily a mélange of Lady Diana Cooper and Nancy Cunard.

From The Daily Beast

The sauce is a mélange of flavors—tangy, salty, and sweet—lathered on a crisp shell encasing the warm, tender meat.

From The Daily Beast

In this mélange, Shavit stands out as one of the only adults in the room.

From The Daily Beast

But he was also a gifted actor, providing an interesting mélange of surfer dude insouciance with a hint of danger.

From The Daily Beast

Some of us have seen shelling of the same intensity and have gone over the top and into a terrible mélange.

From Project Gutenberg

It was bloody red, and the willows along the river's bank were a dim purply mélange of all the refuse of an artist's palette.

From Project Gutenberg

The usual mélange—how natural and appropriate it seems to use French words when treating of the vaudeville!

From Project Gutenberg

A delightful mélange of the old-fashioned fairy tales that delighted our grand-parents when bairns.

From Project Gutenberg

So neither race nor age nor mélange of blood can eradicate the love of flowers.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• assortment
• hodgepodge
• mishmash