Mel lif …
Melli … foo … lus?
Nope, that’s not it.
FLU.
M-E-L L-I F-L-U U-S
Mellifluous
Got it!
Now that I’ve untwisted my tongue, here it is: mel·li·flu·us.
Doesn’t that have a sweet ring to it? The fact is, this dulcet adjective is defined as “flowing with sweetness or honey.”
It can also be used to describe a particularly melodious sound (I awoke to the mellifluous song of a meadowlark at dawn.) Think melodious, mellisonant, ariose, euphonious … ahhhhh.
I dare you to use it in casual conversation.
I double dare you to master its other fabulous forms:
mellifluence (noun)
mellifluousness (noun)
mellifluously (adverb)
mellifluently (adverb)
Sweeeet!
Western meadowlark singing mellifluously. Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons, Alan Vernon.
“honey” in Spanish is “miel”…that should help me remember what this word means….common Latin roots no doubt. Good word!
When my eldest daughter was born, we named her Melyssa Marie. After turning it over his tongue a few times, our good friend Stan said, “Ah, that is a mellifluous name…” I am guessing that this is the first time I’ve spelled it out and written it down, but I have said it lots of times since. What a mellifluous life it is!