Melancholy

mel·an·chol·y [ méllən kòllee ]

adjective

Definition: (msn dictionary)

feeling or causing sadness: feeling or making somebody feel a thoughtful or gentle sadness

noun

Definition:

1. pensive sadness: a thoughtful or gentle sadness

2. gloomy character: the gloomy character of somebody said to have an excess of black bile, one of the four bodily humors that were once thought to determine people's health and emotional state

3. medicine  ( archaic ) Same as  black bile

[14th century. Directly or via French mélancholie< late Latin melancholia< Greek melankholia< melan- "black" + kholē "bile"]

<> mel·an·chol·i·ly adverb mel·an·chol·i·ness noun Even though new family traditions provide happiness abound and fuzzy feelings; every now and then a Christmas song, sight or smell evokes tender melancholy, and I long for those days of innocent enchantment.  photo by rchappo2002