melissa
Syllables: mel·is·sa/məˈlɪsə/US/məˈlɪsə/
melissa noun: a plant of the genus Melissa, especially lemon balm (Melissa officinalis), often used medicinally.
Noun
melissa (plural melissas)
- A plant of the genus Melissa, especially lemon balm (Melissa officinalis), often used medicinally.
- Meliſſa, Bawme, hath an excellent vertue to alter Melancholy, bee it ſteeped in our ordinary drinke, extracted, or otherwise taken.1624, Democritus Junior [pseudonym; Robert Burton], “Alternatiues, Hearbes, Other Creatures, &c.”, in The Anatomy of Melancholy: […], 2nd edition, Oxford, Oxfordshire: […] John Lichfield and James...
- Synonyms:
- dropsywort, honey plant
Proper noun capitalized: Melissa
Melissa
- Bee-nymph in Greek mythology.
- A female given name from Ancient Greek, popular in the latter half of the 20th century.
- And her owne handmayd, that Melissa hight / Appointed to attend her dewly day and night1596, Edmund Spenser, “Book VI, Canto XII”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC
- Miss Melissa Wackles was the eldest daughter, Miss Sophy the next, and Miss Jane the youngest.1840 April – 1841 November, Charles Dickens, “(please specify the chapter number or name)”, in The Old Curiosity Shop. A Tale. […], London: Chapman and Hall, […], published 1841, →OCLC
melissa meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu
melissa in Hindi
- मेलिसा, मेलिस्सा
melissa in Tamil
- மெலிசா, மெலிஸா
melissa in Marathi
- मेलिसा, मेलिसास
melissa in Urdu
- میلیسا, میلسا
More languagesFewer languages
- melissa in Bengali
- মেলিসা
- melissa in Telugu
- మెలిస్సా, మెలిసా
- melissa in Malayalam
- മെലിസ, മെലിസ്സ, മെലിസ്സാ
- melissa in Kannada
- ಮೆಲಿಸ್ಸಾ, ಮೆಲಿಸಾ
- melissa in Punjabi
- ਮੈਲੀਸਾ, ਮੈਲਿਸਾ, ਮੇਲਿਸਾ
- melissa in Gujarati
- મેલિસા, મેલીસા, મેલિસ્સા
- melissa in Odia
- ମେଲିସା
- melissa in Nepali
- मेलिसा
Synonyms of melissa
- dropsywort
- honey plant
Forms of melissa
| plural | melissas |
|---|
Origin of melissa
From Late Latin melissa, from Ancient Greek μέλισσα (mélissa, “bee”), because the plant attracts bees.
From Ancient Greek μέλισσα (mélissa, “bee, honey, or honeybee”). In Ireland it is sometimes used as a feminine form of the Gaelic male name Maol Íosa (literally “servant of Jesus”).
Words formed from melissa
Words that rhyme with melissa
Questions about melissa
- What does melissa mean?
- Melissa means a plant of the genus Melissa, especially lemon balm (Melissa officinalis), often used medicinally.
- What is melissa in Hindi?
- Melissa in Hindi is मेलिसा, मेलिस्सा. See Melissa meaning in Hindi.
- What part of speech is melissa?
- Melissa can be a noun or a proper noun.
- How do you pronounce melissa?
- Melissa is pronounced /məˈlɪsə/ (UK).
- What is the plural of melissa?
- The plural of melissa is melissas.
Words near melissa in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: melissa (page history and authors); Melissa (page history and authors); melissa (Hindi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); melissa (Tamil, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); melissa (Marathi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); melissa (Urdu, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); melissa (Bengali, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); melissa (Telugu, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); melissa (Malayalam, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); melissa (Kannada, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); melissa (Punjabi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); melissa (Gujarati, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); melissa (Odia, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); melissa (Nepali, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-Melissa.wav.
Cite this entry: “melissa.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/melissa. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.