melano-

(redirected from mel-)
Also found in: Medical.

Related to mel-: Mel Brooks

melano-

(word root) black

Examples of words with the root melano-: melanoderm

melano-

or melan-

pref.

Black; dark: melanophore.

[Greek, from melās, melan-, black.]

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

melano-

or before a vowel

melan-

combining form

(Colours) black or dark: melanin; melanism; melanocyte; melanoma.

[from Greek melas black]

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

melano-

or melan-

a combining form meaning “black”: melanocyte.

[< Greek, comb. form of mélās]

Mentioned in ?

References in classic literature ?

The corpse was dressed in a uniform that once had been blue, but was now faded to a mel- ancholy shade of green.

View in context

He surveyed the fence, and all gladness left him and a deep mel- ancholy settled down upon his spirit.