mêlée

See also: melee

English

Etymology

Borrowed from French mêlée.

Noun

mêlée (plural mêlées)

1. Alternative spelling of melee
   • 1988, Douglas Adams, The Long Dark Tea-Time of the Soul, William Heinemann Ltd, page 218:

     What could the Draycotts possibly be doing here? And where, in such a mêlée, could the Draycotts possibly be?

French

Etymology

Inherited from Old French meslee, older meslede, from the feminine past participle of early Medieval Latin misculō, derived from Latin misceō. By surface analysis, mêl- +‎ -ée.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /mɛ.le/, /me.le/

• Audio (France):

  (file)

Noun

mêlée f (plural mêlées)

1. fray, brawl, fight, melee (especially disorganized)

   la mêlée pour monter dans le train ― the squabble to get on the train

2. (rugby) scrum

Descendants

• → Catalan: melé
• → English: melee
• → Italian: mêlée
• → Portuguese: melê
• → Spanish: melé

Participle

mêlée f sg

1. feminine singular of mêlé

Derived terms

• demi de mêlée

Further reading

• “mêlée”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.