Atrabilious means gloomy, melancholy, or ill-natured and peevish, derived from the Latin for 'black bile', historically considered a humor influencing mood.
Atrabilious means gloomy or given to melancholy, or ill-natured and peevish. The word originates from the Latin 'atra bilis', meaning 'black bile', one of the historical four bodily humors.
| Word | atrabilious |
|---|---|
| Date | May 10, 2007 |
| Type | adjective |
| Syllables | at-ruh-BIL-yus |
| Etymology | "Atrabilious" is a somewhat rare word with a history that parallels that of the more common "melancholy." Representing one of the four bodily humors, from which it was once believed that human emotions originated, "atrabilious" derives from the Latin "atra bilis," literally meaning "black bile." The word "melancholy" derives from the Greek "melan-" and "chole," which also translates as "black bile." In its original sense, "atrabilious" meant "melancholy," but now it is more frequently used to describe someone with an irritable or unfriendly temperament. A word with a meaning similar to that of "atrabilious" is "splenetic," which is named after the organ in the body (the spleen) once thought to secrete black bile. *Indicates the sense illustrated in the example sentence. |
| Examples | Conscious of his landlord's atrabilious temperament, Daniel knew to wait until the moment was right before asking for an extension on the rent. |
| Definition | 1 : given to or marked by melancholy : gloomy 2 : ill-natured, peevish |
Tags: wordoftheday::adjective
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