Gheg; from Proto-Albanian*melana ‘black’, from Proto-Indo-European*mel(H)-n- ‘dull black’ (compare Latvian męl̃ns ‘black’, Serbo-Croatian malina ‘raspberry’, Ancient Greek μέλαινα(mélaina) ‘black’). For sense development from ‘black’ to ‘heartache’, compare zi. Doublet of mëllë.