▪ I. mellow, a.
(ˈmɛləʊ)
Forms: 5 melwe, 5–6 melowe, 6 mellowe, 6– mellow.
[First appears in the 15th c.; perh. developed from some unrecorded attributive use of OE. melo (stem melw-), ME. melowe, meal n.1 Cf. mod. Flemish meluw soft, mellow (Franck s.v. Mollig).
In sense the adj. corresponds strikingly with early ME. merow, OE. mearu (a Com. Teut. word), which may possibly have influenced its development.]
1. a. Of fruit: Soft, sweet, and juicy with ripeness. Also fig.
| c 1440 Promp. Parv. 332/1 Melwe, or rype (P. melowe), maturus. 1526 Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W. 1531) 106 b, Thynke how god may make of that grene apple a swete fruyte full melowe. 1530 Palsgr. 318/2 Melowe as fruyte is, meur. 1589 Nashe Anat. Absurd. 32 This greene fruite, beeing gathered before it be ripe, is rotten before it be mellow. 1607 Shakes. Cor. iv. vi. 100 As Hercules did shake downe Mellow Fruite. 1611 Cotgr. s.v. Paré, Pomme parée, ripened in straw, &c.; made mellow by art. 1623 Cockeram, Melow, ripe. 1681 Dryden Span. Friar iii. iii. 42 Nature drops him down, without your Sin, Like mellow Fruit, without a Winter Storm. 1719 D'Urfey Pills (1872) I. 266 Women, like some other Fruit, Lose their relish when too mellow. 1756 Lady M. W. Montagu ‘Good madam’, But the fruit that can fall without shaking Indeed is too mellow for me. 1806–7 J. Beresford Miseries Hum. Life (1826) vi. xxxiv, One dish of mellow apples. 1814 Scott Ld. of Isles iii. xxi, Mellow nuts have hardest rind. |
b. Of colour, odour, taste: Indicative of ripeness.
| 1563 Homilies ii. Alms-deeds ii. 174 b, So doth the crabbe and choke pere, seeme outwardlye to haue sometyme as fayre a redde, and as melowe a colour, as the fruite which is good in deede. 1644 Digby Nat. Bodies i. (1645) 3 My eye telleth me it [an apple] is green or red; my nose that it hath a mellow sent. |
c. Of landscape, seasons, etc.: Characterized by ripeness.
| 1819 Keats To Autumn 1 Season of mists and mellow fruitfulness. a 1845 Hood Poems (1846) II. 49, Twas in that mellow season of the year When the hot Sun singes the yellow leaves Till they be gold. 1862 B. Taylor Poets Jrnl. i, A moment she the mellow landscape scanned. |
d. Of wines or their flavour: Well-matured; free from acidity or harshness. Also
fig.| a 1700 B. E. Dict. Cant. Crew, Mellow,..smooth, soft Drink. 1787 J. Croft Treat. Wines Portugal 7 The Port Wines..being less racey and mellow than the Alicants from Spain. 1853 C. Brontë Villette xix, His spirit was of vintage too mellow and generous to sour. |
2. transf. a. Of earth: Soft, rich, loamy.
| 1531 Elyot Gov. i. iv, The most melowe and fertile erth. 1577 B. Googe Heresbach's Husb. i. (1586) 25 If the ground be mellowe, after Barley in some places they sowe Millet. 1664 Evelyn Kal. Hort., Mar. (1729) 195 Sow Skirrets in rich, mellow, fresh Earth. 1697 Dryden Virg. Georg. ii. 356 Hoary Frosts..will rot the Mellow Soil. 1777 A. Hunter Georg. Ess. 168 note, In the North of England, when the earth turns up with a mellow and crumbly appearance, and smoaks, the farmers say the earth is brimming. 1815 J. Smith Panorama Sci. & Art II. 632 It delights most in a stiff, mellow, well pulverized soil. 1879 Joaquin Miller Nicaragua in Poems of Places, Brit. Amer. etc. 175 My father old He turns alone the mellow sod. |
b. In various applications: Soft; soft and smooth to the touch.
| 1797 Encycl. Brit. (ed. 3) III. 544/2 This frequent turning it over, cools, dries, and deadens the grain; whereby it becomes mellow. 1844 Stephens Bk. Farm III. 836 [Young cattle.] To be a good thriver..the hair should feel mossy, and the touch of the skin mellow. 1875 Encycl. Brit. I. 390/2 Young cattle..are at 18 months old already of great size, with open horns, mellow hide [etc.]. |
3. fig. (from sense 1). Mature, ripe in age. Now chiefly, softened or sweetened by age or experience; having the gentleness or dignity resulting from maturity.
| 1592 Kyd Sp. Trag. i. iii. 41 My yeeres were mellow, his but young and greene. 1611 Middleton & Dekker Roaring Girle i. D.'s Wks. 1873 III. 145 Maister Greene-wit is not yet So mellow in yeares as he. 1749 Smollett Regicide v. iv, In florid youth, or mellow age, scarce fleets One hour without its care! 1855 M. Arnold Sonn. to Friend 13 The mellow glory of the Attic stage. 1893 Goldw. Smith United States 63 He [Benjamin Franklin] was an offspring of New England Puritanism grown mellow. |
4. Of sound, colour, light, etc.: Rich and soft; full and pure without harshness.
a. of sound, musical instruments, singers.
| 1668 H. More Div. Dial. iii. xxxvi. (1713) 284 How sweet and mellow, and yet how Majestick, is the Sound of it! 1700 Dryden Ovid's Met. xii. 218 The mellow harp did not their ears employ. 1722 Snape in Swift's Lett. (1766) II. 27 His voice, since its breaking, is somewhat harsh, but I believe will grow mellower. 1728–46 Thomson Spring 604 The mellow bullfinch answers from the grove. 1742 Berkeley Let. to Gervais 2 Feb., Wks. 1871 IV. 284 A six-stringed bass viol of an old make and mellow tone. 1746 Collins Ode Passions 61 Pale Melancholy..Pour'd thro' the mellow Horn her pensive soul. 1821 Byron Juan iv. lxxxvii, Who swore his voice was very rich and mellow. a 1849 Poe The Bells, Hear the mellow wedding bells, Golden bells. 1863 Lever Barrington xviii, The hardy old squire, whose mellow cheer was known at the fox-cover. 1863 Geo. Eliot Romola lxi, There was silence when he began to speak in his clear mellow voice. |
b. of colour, light, drawing, etc., or coloured objects. Sometimes with additional notion: Softened in colour by age.
| 1706 Art of Painting (1744) 342 His pencil was light and mellow. 1766 Goldsm. Vic. W. xx, The colouring of a picture was not mellow enough. 1784 Cowper Task iv. 314 The golden harvest, of a mellow brown. 1815 Wordsw. Excursion i. 958 The sun declining shot A slant and mellow radiance. 1842 Tennyson Locksley Hall 9 Many a night I saw the Pleiads, rising through the mellow shade. 1859 Geo. Eliot A. Bede vi, Pleasant jets of light were thrown on mellow oak and bright brass. 1880 M. E. Braddon Just as I am ii, Time had toned down every colour inside and outside the good old house to mellowest half tints. |
5. a. Good-humoured, genial, jovial.
| 1711 Addison Spect. No. 68 ¶3 In all thy Humours, whether grave or mellow. 1824 W. Irving T. Trav. I. 7 The Baronet was..as merry and mellow an old bachelor as ever followed a hound. 1871 M. Collins Mrq. & Merch. II. viii. 234 When..their glasses were filled with..port, Mowbray grew a trifle mellower in mood. |
b. U.S. slang. Satisfying, attractive, skilful, pleasant.
| 1942 Z. N. Hurston in A. Dundes Mother Wit (1973) 224/2 If they's white, they's right! If they's yellow, they's mellow! If they's brown, they can stick around. 1944 D. Burley in Ibid. 207/1 The whole town's copping the mellow jive. 1945 L. Shelly Jive Talk Dict. 15/1 Mellow (adj.) superlative. Ibid. 29/1 Mellow fellow, a satisfactory person. Mellow mouse, attractive female. 1960 Wentworth & Flexner Dict. Amer. Slang 336 Mellow,..skillful; sincere, heart-felt; said of a jazz performance. 1970 C. Major Dict. Afro-Amer. Slang 81 Mellow, gentle, sincere, satisfying; cool. 1973 To our Returned Prisoners of War (Office of U.S. Secretary of Defense) 7 Mellow, pleasant or satisfied. Just good. |
6. a. Affected with liquor, partly intoxicated.
| 1611 Cotgr. s.v. Enyvrer, S'enyvrer, to be drunke, or in drinke; to be mellow, tipled, flusht, ouerseene. 1638 R. Brathwait Barnabees Jrnl. iii. (1818) 85 For the world, I would not prize her,..Had she in her no good fellow That would drinke till he grew mellow. 1775 Sheridan Duenna ii. iii, The hateful fellow That's crabbed when he's mellow. 1895 Scully Kafir Stories 193 The beer was not in sufficient quantities to cause intoxication, but nevertheless all were somewhat mellow when the sun went down. |
b. U.S. slang. (See
quot.)
| 1946 Mezzrow & Wolfe Really Blues (1957) 376 Mellow: feeling good, especially after smoking marihuana. |
7. a. Comb., chiefly parasynthetic and
advb., as
mellow-breathing,
mellow-coloured,
mellow-deep,
mellow-eyed,
mellow-lighted,
mellow-mouthed,
mellow-ripe,
mellow-tasted,
mellow-tempered,
mellow-toned adjs.| a 1777 Fawkes Epithalamic Ode 19 The merry pipe, the *mellow-breathing flute. |
| 1895 C. Holland Jap. Wife 70 Countless numbers of paper lanterns, which throw a *mellow-coloured radiance on the faces of the passers-by. |
| 1832 Tennyson Eleänore 67 A sweep Of richest pauses, evermore Drawn from each other *mellow-deep. |
| 1866 Howells Venet. Life x. 139 *Mellow-eyed dun oxen. |
| 1892 Pater Wks. (1901) VIII. 209 The melodious, *mellow-lighted space. |
| 1604 T. Wright Passions v. §3. 182 A preacher,..knowing his auditours wallowed in sinne, ought not with..*mellow-mouthed words tickle their eares. |
| 1579 Spenser Sheph. Cal. Dec. 107 Ere they were halfe *mellow ripe. |
| 1730–46 Thomson Autumn 705 The *mellow-tasted burgundy. |
| 1873 E. Brennan Witch of Nemi, etc. 85 *Mellow-toned laughter. |
b. mellow yellow (
U.S. slang), banana peel used as an intoxicant; also as
adj.| 1967 Boston Sunday Herald Mag. 30 Apr. 28/3 So I offered him—grass, acid, speed, magic—mushrooms, DMT, hash, and mellow yellow. 1968–70 Current Slang (Univ. S. Dakota) III–IV. 82 Mellow yellow, intoxicated from smoking a banana peel. |
▪ II. mellow, v. (
ˈmɛləʊ)
[f. mellow a.] 1. trans. To render mellow; to ripen and render soft and juicy (fruits); to mature (wines or liquors), to free from harshness or acidity. Also
fig.| 1572 Gascoigne Counc. Withipoll Posies (1575) Hearbes 155 Those sunnes do mellowe men so fast, As most that trauayle come home very ripe. 1590 Greene Orl. Fur. (1599) 47 Me thinks I feele how Cynthya..meloweth those desires Which phrensies scares had ripened in my head. 1594 Shakes. Rich. III iii. vii. 168 The Royall Tree hath left vs Royall Fruit, Which mellow'd by the stealing howres of time, Will well become the Seat of Maiestie. 1630 Donne Lett. (1651) 317 All this mellows me for heaven. 1697 Dryden Virg. Georg. ii. 758 Winter Fruits are mellow'd by the Frost. 1701 Addison Let. to Halifax 132 On foreign mountains may the Sun refine The Grape's soft juice, and mellow it to wine. 1754 Richardson Grandison IV. xxxii. 203 Yours is Love mellowed into Friendship. 1781 Cowper Conversation 644 Age,..As time improves the grape's authentic juice, Mellows and makes the speech more fit for use. 1818 Southey Lett., to H. H. Southey II. 115 Generous minds and tempers..are mellowed, like wine, as they grow older. 1848 Lytton Harold iii. v, The year..had mellowed the fruits of the earth. |
b. intr. Of fruit, wines, etc.: To become mellow; to ripen, mature. Also
fig.| 1594 Shakes. Rich. III iv. iv. 1 So now prosperity begins to mellow, And drop into the rotten mouth of death. a 1631 Donne On Himself 6 Till death us lay To ripe and mellow here we are stuborne Clay. 1638 Sir T. Herbert Trav. (ed. 2) 297 From a dark-greene, [they] mellow into a flaming yellow. 1693 Evelyn De La Quint. Compl. Gard. Pref., Exactly when to gather both those which ripen on the Tree, and those which attain not their full ripeness there, but must be laid up to mellow in the House. 1768–74 Tucker Lt. Nat. (1834) II. 343 Their juices will mellow by mingling together. 1830 M. Donovan Dom. Econ. I. 21 These were often hung in the smoke of a chimney, at some distance above the fire, in order to mellow. 1884 W. C. Smith Kildrostan 74 Unripe fruit is bitter oft i' the mouth, Yet mellows with the months. |
2. trans. To make (soil) soft and loamy.
| 1577 B. Googe Heresbach's Husb. i. (1586) 23 b, The land it selfe is also called grosse and rawe, that is not well mellowed. 1634 Sir T. Herbert Trav. 115 A small streame, which..meloes most of the Gardens and Groues. 1707 Mortimer Husb. (1721) I. 52 Wind, Sun and Dews, all which sweeten and mellow the Land very much. 1846 J. Baxter Libr. Pract. Agric. (ed. 4) II. 288 Their surfaces soon become mellowed by the action of the air. |
b. intr. Of soil: To become soft and loamy.
| 1815 J. Smith Panorama Sci. & Art I. 184 The earth..should have sufficient time to mellow and ferment. 1895 Tablet 9 Nov. 739 Then the soil will have mellowed sufficiently to bear wheat and potatoes. |
3. trans. To impart softness and richness (of flavour, colour, tone, etc.) to; to soften, sweeten, free from harshness or crudity. Also (
nonce-use), to drive (something)
out of (a person) by a process of mellowing.
| 1593 Nashe Christ's T. 16 b, As Archesilaus ouer-melodied, and too-much melowed and sugred with sweet tunes,..caused his eares to be new relished with harsh sower and vnsauory sounds. 1596 ― Saffron Walden 113 The Page was easily mellowd with his attractiue eloquence. 1693 Dryden To Sir G. Kneller 178 Time shall..Mellow your colours. 1742 Blair Grave 102 The sooty blackbird Mellow'd his pipe, and soften'd every note. 1761 Hume Hist. Eng. III. xlvii. 36 In order to mellow these humours. 1786 S. Rogers Sailor 8 Its colours mellow'd, not impair'd, by time. 1810 Scott Lady of L. ii. xvii, At first the sounds, by distance tame, Mellowed along the waters came. 1871 L. Stephen Playgr. Eur. ii. (1894) 49 Lichens mellow the scarred masses of fallen rock. 1887 Saintsbury Ess. Eng. Lit., Jeffrey (1891) 102 The priggishness which he showed early, and never entirely lost, till fame, prosperity, and the approach of old age mellowed it out of him. 1902 A. Thomson Lauder & Lauderdale x. 102 The King..visited him..to endeavour by personal interview to mellow his manners. |
b. intr. To soften, become toned down or subdued; to become free from harshness.
| 1737 M. Green Spleen 711 Unhurt by sickness' blasting rage And slowly mellowing in age. 1777 Robertson Hist. Amer. (1778) II. v. 4 The impetuosity of his temper, when he came to act with his equals, insensibly abated..and mellowed into a cordial soldierly frankness. 1823 Byron Island ii. xv, The broad sun set, but not with lingering sweep, As in the north he mellows o'er the deep. 1840 Dickens Barn. Rudge xi, The very furniture of the room seemed to mellow..in its tone. 1861 J. Brown Horæ Subs. (1863) 64 His character mellowed and toned down in his later years. 1902 A. E. W. Mason Four Feathers xvii. 165 The sunlight mellowed and reddened. |
4. trans. To bring under the influence of liquor.
| a 1761 Cawthorn Poems (1771) 189 Gods..will, like mortals, swear and hector, When mellow'd with a cup of nectar. 1836 W. Irving Astoria II. 13 When he thought him sufficiently mellowed, he proposed to him to quit the service of his new employers. 1855 Tennyson Brook 155 There he mellow'd all his heart with ale. |
Add:
[3.] c. intr. With
out. To become less intense, to relax,
esp. under the influence of a drug. Also (
occas.)
trans. or
refl. slang (
orig. U.S.).
| 1974 Rolling Stone 14 Feb. 38/1 Critics..were saying he'd mellowed out..‘drained the venom from his voice’. 1977 C. McFadden Serial (1978) ix. 25/2 How about we all smoke a little dope and mellow out, okay? 1979 N. Mailer Executioner's Song (1980) i. xx. 342 Even with two Valiums to mellow her out, she felt crazy inside every time she thought about Barrett selling her car. 1985 R. Silverberg Tom O'Bedlam (1986) v. iii. 178 A tranquilizer whenever you felt the need to mellow yourself out. 1991 Holiday Which? Mar. 106/3 A place to stop off at, stay awhile and mellow out. 1995 J. Miller voXpop viii. 125 Now I just smoke grass, I've mellowed out... I couldn't keep going flat out for life! |
▪ III. mellow, n. U.S. slang. (
ˈmɛləʊ)
[perh. catachr. f. melody n.] (See
quots.)
| 1942 Berrey & Van den Bark Amer. Thes. Slang §568 Mellows, spirituals or religious songs. 1958 P. Gammond Decca Bk. Jazz i. 21 There were sustained ‘mellows’—hollers in which a single idea or phrase might be repeated with numerous variations until the singer tired of it or thought of another. |