▪ I. mellowing, vbl. n.
(ˈmɛləʊɪŋ)
[f. mellow v. + -ing1.]
The action of the vb. mellow.
| 1528 Paynel Salerne's Regim. H ij, The operations of dulce wynes are digestion, mellowyng, and encressynge of nourishement. 1621 Fletcher Pilgrim ii. i, Fling him i' th' hay-mow, let him lie a-mellowing. 1675 Grew Tastes Plants iv. §11 Sower apples, by mellowing, and harsh pears, by baking, become sweet. 1845 Encycl. Metrop. XXV. 1286/2 The mellowing of wine by time is a process which has baffled hitherto all scientific inquiry. 1897 Allbutt's Syst. Med. II. 845 Some amylic alcohol, which tends, however, to disappear in the process of mellowing. |
| attrib. 1871 Gladstone in Morley Life (1903) II. vi. viii. 382 In his character the mellowing process has continued to advance. |
Add: Also with out (see *mellow v. 3 c).
| 1977 C. McFadden in N.Y. Times Mag. 20 Nov. 117/1 Words and phrases in the Bay Area vocabulary that describe mental inertia: ‘mellowing out’. 1993 Rolling Stone 18 Feb. 58/2 Jagger..seems determined to cede nothing to age, dismissing the idea of mellowing out as anathema. |
▪ II. mellowing, ppl. a.
(ˈmɛləʊɪŋ)
[f. mellow v. + -ing2.]
That mellows (in senses of the vb.).
| 1637 Milton Lycidas 5, I com to..Shatter your leaves before the mellowing year. 1725 Pope Odyss. iii. 504 Late from the mellowing cask restor'd to light. 1807 Crabbe Par. Reg. ii. 454 And their full autumn felt the mellowing frost. 1894 Athenæum 2 June 702/3 [It] became afterwards poetized by the mellowing sun of his genius. |