Meletin
(Mel"e*tin) n. (Chem.) See Quercitin.
Melezitose
(Me*lez"i*tose`) n. [F. mélèze the larch + melitose.] (Chem.) A variety of sugar, isomeric with
sucrose, extracted from the manna of the larch [Written also melicitose.]
Meliaceous
(Me`li*a"ceous) a. (Bot.) Pertaining to a natural order (Meliacæ) of plants of which the genus
Melia is the type. It includes the mahogany and the Spanish cedar.
Melibean
(Mel`i*be"an Mel`i*b"an), a. [From L. Meliboeus, one of the interlocutors in Virgil's first Eclogue.]
(Rhet.) Alternately responsive, as verses.
Melic
(Mel"ic) Of or pertaining to song; lyric; tuneful.
Melicerous
(Me*lic"er*ous) a. [L. meliceris a kind of tumor, fr. Gr. me`li honey + wax.] (Med.) Consisting
of or containing matter like honey; — said of certain encysted tumors.
Melic grass
(Mel"ic grass`) (Bot.) A genus of grasses (Melica) of little agricultural importance.
Melicotoon
(Mel`i*co*toon") n. (Bot.) See Melocoton.
Melicratory
(Me*lic"ra*to*ry) n. [Gr. meli`kraton.] A meadlike drink. [Obs.]
Melilite
(Mel"i*lite) n. [Gr. me`li honey + -lite; cf. F. mélilithe.] (Min.) A mineral occurring in small yellow
crystals, found in the lavas (melilite basalt) of Vesuvius, and elsewhere. [Written also mellilite.]
Melilot
(Mel"i*lot) n. [F. mélilot, L. melilotus, fr. Gr. a kind of clover containing honey; me`li honey +
lotus.] (Bot.) Any species of Melilotus, a genus of leguminous herbs having a vanillalike odor; sweet
clover; hart's clover. The blue melilot (Melilotus cærulea) is used in Switzerland to give color and flavor to
sapsago cheese.
Melilotic
(Mel`i*lot"ic) a. (Chem.) Of, pertaining to, or obtained from, sweet clover or melilot; specifically,
designating an acid of the aromatic series, obtained from melilot as a white crystalline substance.
Meliorate
(Mel"io*rate) v. t. [imp. & p. p. Meliorated (- ra`ted); p. pr. & vb. n. Meliorating.] [L. melioratus,
p. p. of meliorare to meliorate, fr. melior better; akin to Gr. ma^llon rather, ma`la very. Cf. Ameliorate.]
To make better; to improve; to ameliorate; to soften; to make more tolerable.
Nature by art we nobly meliorate.
Denham.
The pure and benign light of revelation has had a meliorating influence on mankind.
Washington. Meliorate
(Mel"io*rate), v. i. To grow better.
Meliorater
(Mel"io*ra`ter) n. Same as Meliorator.
Melioration
(Mel`io*ra"tion) n. [L. melioratio.] The act or operation of meliorating, or the state of being
meliorated; improvement. Bacon.
Meliorator
(Mel"io*ra`tor) n. One who meliorates.
Meliorism
(Mel"io*rism) n. [From L. melior better.] The doctrine that there is a tendency throughout
nature toward improvement. J. Sully.
Meliority
(Mel*ior"i*ty) n. [LL. melioritas, fr. L. melior. See Meliorate.] The state or quality of being
better; melioration. [Obs.] Bacon.
Meliphagan
(Me*liph"a*gan) a. [Gr. me`li honey + to eat.] (Zoöl.) Belonging to the genus Meliphaga.
