mel·an·cho·li·a

(mĕl′ən-kō′lē-ə)

Extreme, persistent sadness or hopelessness; depression. No longer in clinical use.

[Late Latin, melancholy; see melancholy.]

mel′an·cho′li·ac (-lē-ăk′) adj. & n.

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.

melancholia

(ˌmɛlənˈkəʊlɪə)

(Psychiatry) a former name for depression

ˌmelanˈcholiˌac adj, n

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

mel•an•cho•li•a

(ˌmɛl ənˈkoʊ li ə, -ˈkoʊl yə)

n.

a severe form of depression characterized typically by weight loss, insomnia, and an inability to experience pleasure.

[1685–95; < Late Latin; see melancholy]

mel`an•cho′li•ac, n.

melancholia

a condition of abnormal gloom or depression, of ten of an intensity to become a form of insanity. — melancholiac, n., adj. — melancholie, n., adj.

melancholia

[ˌmelənˈkəʊlɪə] N → melancolía f

Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

melancholia

n → Schwermut f, → Melancholie f

Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

melancholia

[ˌmɛlənˈkəʊljə] n (old) (Psych) → malinconia

Collins Italian Dictionary 1st Edition © HarperCollins Publishers 1995

mel·an·cho·li·a

n. melancolía, depresión acentuada.

English-Spanish Medical Dictionary © Farlex 2012

Mentioned in

References in classic literature

Or perhaps mine was a physical state, some sort of disease akin to melancholia which is a form of insanity?

View in context

One of the oldest terms used in psychology, melancholia is a sub-type of depression characterised by loss of pleasure or the lack of mood reactivity including three or more of the following: distinct quality of the depressed mood, mood that is worse in the morning, early morning awakening, psychomotor changes, weight loss or decreased appetite, and excessive guilt.

Stigma and sense: Understanding melancholia

LADY OF THE LACE Black lace dress from Dak Bonite's Melancholia collection (photo by Kryss Rubio)

Holy Robes

Samuel Barber: Absolute Beauty is an exploration of his music and melancholia.

Samuel Barber: Absolute Beauty Documentary

Arcane Roots Sage Gateshead After a wait of nearly four years, Arcane Roots returned with their second album Melancholia Hymns last year.

48 hours Your next North EastHot List

In his now classic paper, Mourning and Melancholia, Freud contrasts the grief process following the loss of a loved one, when emotional energy is redirected from investment in the external relationship to internal identification with the loved one (mourning); and the complicated bereavement associated with emotional loss (melancholia).

Guest Editors' Page

Lars von Trier's 'Melancholia' topped the list, and the list included movies like 'The Neon Demon' and 'mother!' lingering around the top.

Here are the 20 most divisive Hollywood movies, according to critics

I couldn't see past the tough love she was giving because I foolishly believed she was just like most people-telling me to snap out of my melancholia.

If it wasn't for my mother, I'd have ended my life

Without a bent for melancholia there is no psyche, only a transition

Melancholy ontology, evental ethics, and the lost (m)other in Howard Barker's Theatre of Catastrophe: An analysis of 13 objects

Andrews and colleagues propose that high serotonin levels--not low--accompany melancholia, the most common form of depression.

Serotonin levels and depression

This leads to an analysis of the intersections of death, nationalism, and masculinities in the films of Takeshi Kitano and, finally, a nuanced reading of von Trier's Melancholia (2011).

Elena Del Rio. The Grace of Destruction: A Vital Ethology of Extreme Cinemas