Words at Play : 12 Words That Secretly Come from Body Parts
Definition:
: a sad mood or feeling
About the Word:
Melancholy doesn't actually come from a body part, but its etymology is close (and interesting) enough to include it in this list. It comes from an Ancient Greek word that combined the meanings for 'dark' (melan-) and for 'bile' (cholos). Long ago, before modern English was even a twinkle in the eye of Anglo-Saxon, there was a theory that human health was regulated by a correct balance of the four humors: blood, phlegm, yellow bile, and black bile. If you had too much black bile in your system you would be prone to depression, or melancholy.
Example:
"He reread the first paragraph, his eyes itching with melancholy and pride." — Martin Amis, The Information, 1995
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