English
melomaniac
Melomaniac comes from Ancient Greek μέλος ‘song’.
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
- 1 Wiktionary, English melomaniac
- Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1850, Joseph Clay Neal, Music Mad; or, The Melomaniac: “He then amused himself with the fiddle—tried the French…”.
Earlier history uncertain. See Wiktionary.
Lineage
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEμέλοςWiktionary, English melomaniacmélos‘song’
- Englishearliest quotation 1850melomaniacWiktionary, English melomaniac. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1850, Joseph Clay Neal, Music Mad; or, The Melomaniac: “He then amused himself with the fiddle—tried the French…”
Formed from maniac
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *mel- ‘limb’
multiple, mole, multitude, mucho, muy, multifarious, 27 more
through Ancient Greek μέλος ‘song’
Today it means
noun One with an abnormal fondness of music; a person who loves music.
Sources
Sources: Wiktionary, “melomaniac”. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.
Etymograph / Ancient Greek μέλος / melomaniac