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Webster 1913 Edition

Mellow

Mel′low

,
Adj.
[
Com
par.
Mellower
;
sup
erl.
Mellowest
.]
[OE.
melwe
; cf. AS.
mearu
soft, D.
murw
, Prov. G.
mollig
soft, D.
malsch
, and E.
meal
flour.]
1.
Soft or tender by reason of ripeness; having a tender pulp;
as, a
mellow
apple
.
2.
Hence:
(a)
Easily worked or penetrated; not hard or rigid;
as, a
mellow
soil
.
“Mellow glebe.”
Drayton
(b)
Not coarse, rough, or harsh; subdued; soft; rich; delicate; – said of sound, color, flavor, style, etc.
“The mellow horn.”
Wordsworth.
“The mellow-tasted Burgundy.”
Thomson.
The tender flush whose
mellow
stain imbues
Heaven with all freaks of light.
Percival.
3.
Well matured; softened by years; genial; jovial.
May health return to
mellow
age.
Wordsworth.
As merry and
mellow
an old bachelor as ever followed a hound.
W. Irving.
4.
Warmed by liquor; slightly intoxicated.
Addison.

Mel′low

,
Verb.
T.
[
imp. & p. p.
Mellowed
;
p. pr. & vb. n.
Mellowing
.]
To make mellow.
Shak.
If the Weather prove frosty to
mellow
it [the ground], they do not plow it again till April.
Mortimer.
The fervor of early feeling is tempered and
mellowed
by the ripeness of age.
J. C. Shairp.

Mel′low

,
Verb.
I.
To become mellow;
as, ripe fruit soon
mellows
.
“Prosperity begins to mellow.”
Shak.

Webster 1828 Edition

Mellow

MEL'LOW

,
Adj.
[L. mollis, malus.]
1.
Soft with ripeness; easily yielding to pressure; as a mellow peach or apple; mellow fruit.
2.
Soft to the ear; as a mellow sound; a mellow pipe.
3.
Soft; well pulverized; not indurated or compact; as mellow ground or earth.
4.
Soft and smooth to the taste; as mellow wine.
5.
Soft with liquor; intoxicated; merry.
6.
Soft or easy to the eye.
The tender flush whose mellow stain imbues
Heaven with all freaks of light.

MEL'LOW

,
Verb.
T.
To ripen; to bring to maturity; to soften by ripeness or age.
On foreign mountains may the sun refine
The grape's soft juice and mellow it to wine.
1.
To soften; to pulverize. Earth is mellowed by frost.
2.
To mature; to bring to perfection.
This episode--mellowed into that reputation which time has given it.

MEL'LOW

,
Verb.
I.
To become soft; to be ripened, matured or brought to perfection. Fruit, when taken from the tree, soon mellows. Wine mellows with age.

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