Emily Dickinson Lexicon

MELT, v.i.

1. To become liquid; to dissolve; to be changed from a fixed or solid to a flowing state. And whiter snow in minutes melts away. Dryden.
2. To be softened to love, pity, tenderness or sympathy; become tender, mild, or gentle. Melting with tenderness and mild compassion. Shak.
3. To be dissolved; to lose substance. And what seem'd corporal, / Melted as breath into the wind. Shak.
4. To be subdued by affliction; to sink into weakness. My soul melteth for heaviness-strengthen thou me. Ps. cxix.
5. To faint; to be discouraged or disheartened. As soon as we heard these things, our heart melted. Josh. ii.

MELT, v.t. [Sax. meltan; Gr. μελδω; D. smelten; G. schmelzen; Sw. smälta; Dan. smelter; whence Eng. smelt, smalt. We have in these words decisive evidence that s, in smelten, &c. is a prefix. Melt, in English is regular, forming melted for its past tense and passive participle. The old participle molten, is used only as an adjective. This verb belongs to a numerous class of words in Ml, denoting soft or softness. See Class Ml, No. 10, 18, 19.]

1. To dissolve; to make liquid; to liquefy; to reduce from a solid to a liquid or flowing state by heat; as, to melt wax, tallow or lead; to melt ice or snow.
2. To dissolve; to reduce to first principles. Burnet
3. To soften to love or tenderness. For pity melts the mind to love. Dryden.
4. To waste away; to dissipate. In general riot melted down thy youth. Shak.
5. To dishearten. Josh. xiv.

MELT'ED, pp.

Dissolved; made liquid; softened; discouraged.

MELT'ER, n.

One that melts any thing. Derham.

MELT'ING, n.

The act of softening; the act of rendering tender. South.

MELT'ING, ppr.

1. Dissolving; liquefying; softening; discouraging.
2. adj. Tending to soften; softening into tenderness; as, melting eloquence.

MELT'ING-LY, adv.

1. In a manner to melt or soften.
2. Like something melting. Sidney.

MELT'ING-NESS, n.

The power of melting or softening.

MEL'WEL, n.

A fish.

MEM'BER, n. [Fr. membre; L. membrum.]

1. A limb of animal bodies, as a leg, an arm, an ear, a finger, that is, a subordinate part of the main body.
2. A part of a discourse, or of a period or sentence; a clause; a part of a verse. Harmony in poetry is produced by a proportion between the members of the same verse, or between the members of different verses.
3. In architecture, a subordinate part of a building, as a frieze or cornice; sometimes a molding.
4. An individual of a community or society. Every citizen is a member of the state or body politic. So the individuals of a club, a corporation or confederacy, are called its members. Students of an academy or college are its members. Professed Christians are called members of the church.
5. The appetites and passions, considered as tempting to sin. Rom. vii. Col. iii.

MEM'BER-ED, a.

Having limbs.

MEM'BER-SHIP, n.

1. The state of being a member.
2. Community; society. Beaum.

MEM'BRANE, n. [Fr. from L. membrana; Ir. meambrum. The last component part of this word is found in the Ethiopic and Amharic; Eth. ብሬሃና bereana, parchment, vellum, from በረሀ barah, to shine or be clear. Ludolf, Col. 231. 2. The substance then is named from its clearness or transparency.]

In anatomy, a thin, white, flexible skin, formed by fibers interwoven like network, and serving to cover some part of the body. Encyc. The term is applied to the thin expanded parts, of various texture, both in animals and vegetables.

MEM-BRA'NE-OUS, or MEM'BRA-NOUS, a. [or MEM-BRA-NA'CEOUS.]

1. Belonging to a membrane; consisting of membranes; as,a membraneous covering. Birds of prey have membranaceous stomachs, not muscular. Arbuthnot.
2. In botany, a membranaceous leaf has no distinguishable pulp between the two surfaces. In general, it denotes flattened or resembling parchment. Martyn.

MEM-BRA'NI-FORM, a.

Having the form of a membrane or of parchment.

ME-MENT'O, n. [L. from memini. See Memory.]

A hint, suggestion, notice or memorial to awaken memory; that which reminds. He is but a man, and seasonable mementos may be useful. Bacon.

MEMENTO-MORI, v. [Memento mori; L.]

Be mindful of death.

MEM'NON, n.

The name of a celebrated Egyptian statue, supposed to have the property of emitting a harp-like sound at sunrise.

MEM'OIR, n. [Fr. memoire, memory.]

1. A species of history written by a person who had some share in the transactions related. Persons often write their own memoirs.
2. A history of transactions in which some person had a principal share, is called his memoirs, though compiled or written by a different hand.
3. The history of a society, or the journals and proceedings of a society; as, memoirs of the Royal Society.
4. A written account; register of facts. Arbuthnot.

MEM'OIR-IST, n.

A writer of memoirs. Carlisle.

MEM-O-RA-BIL'IA, n. [plur. L.]

Things remarkable and worthy of remembrance.

MEM-O-RA-BIL'I-TY, n.

The state of being memorable.

MEM'O-RA-BLE, a. [Fr. from L. memorabilis. See Memory.]

Worthy to be remembered; illustrious; celebrated; distinguished. By tombs, by books, by memorable deeds. Davies.

MEM'O-RA-BLY, adv.

In a manner worthy to be remembered.

MEM-O-RAND'UM,

n, [L. plur. Memorandums or Memoranda.] A note to help the memory. I entered a memorandum in my pocket-book. Guardian.