Melody Meaning
/ˈmɛl.ə.di/Definition, CEFR level B1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
Listen pronunciation
Definition
nounA sequence of notes that makes up a musical phrase.
nameA female given name from English.
Sentence Examples
The song had a melody that went like this.
This melody reminds me of my school days.
CEFR Practice Quiz
The violinist played a memorable ____ that the audience could easily hum.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The pianist played a beautiful and simple ____ that stayed in my head for hours after the concert ended.
Word Origin & History
From Middle English melodie, melodye, from Old French melodie, from Latin melodia, from Ancient Greek μελῳδίᾱ (melōidíā, “singing, chanting”), from μέλος (mélos, “musical phrase”) + ἀοιδή (aoidḗ, “song”), contracted form ᾠδή (ōidḗ).
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"There is a melody upon the Earth as though ten thousand streams all sang together for their homes that they had forsaken in the hills."
— 1905, Lord Dunsany [i.e., Edward Plunkett, 18th Baron of Dunsany], “The Sayings of Slid (whose Soul is by the Sea)”, in The Gods of Pegāna, London: [Charles] Elkin Mathews, […], →OCLC, page 15:
"Slowly she turned round and faced towards a neat white bungalow, set some way back from the path behind a low hedge of golden privet. No light showed, but someone there was playing the piano. The strange elusiveness of the soft, insistent melody seemed to draw her forward."
— 1954, Alexander Alderson, chapter 1, in The Subtle Minotaur:
"Melody, for this, impossibly, was her mother's name, twinkled in a searching manner over the glasses."
— 2000, Anne Enright, What Are You Like?, Random House, published 2001, →ISBN, page 150:
Explore More B1 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
The violinist played a memorable ____ that the audience could easily hum.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The pianist played a beautiful and simple ____ that stayed in my head for hours after the concert ended.