Contextualizebeta

maudlin

noun
/ˈmɔːd.lɪn/UK/ˈmɔːd.lɪn/US/ˈmɑːd.lɪn/

Etymology

From Middle English Maudelen, a dialectal form of Mary Magdalene (typically depicted weeping), from Old French Madelaine (whence Madeleine), from Late Latin Magdalena (see Magdalena, Magdalene, and Maudlin).

  1. derived from Magdalena
  2. derived from Madelaine
  3. derived from Maudelen

Definitions

  1. The Magdalene

    The Magdalene; Mary Magdalene.

    • for alle they worſchipden hir ſouereynly / as worthy was / but ſpecially Mawdelayne / that wolde neuere departe fro hir.

  2. Either of two aromatic plants, costmary or sweet yarrow.

    • Common Maudlin have somewhat long and narrow leaves, snipped about the edges.

  3. A Magdalene house

    A Magdalene house; a brothel.

  4. ›+ 5 more definitions

    1. Affectionate or sentimental in an effusive, tearful, or foolish manner, especially…

      Affectionate or sentimental in an effusive, tearful, or foolish manner, especially because of drunkenness.

      • Why, man, you couldn't stand—you made everybody laugh in the Gardens, though you were crying yourself. You were maudlin, Jos. Don't you remember singing a song?
      • With the help of a sleepy waiter, Little Billee got the bacchanalian into his room and lit his candle for him, and, disengaging himself from his maudlin embraces, left him to wallow in solitude.
      • He was a drunkard, and had not known it. What he had fondly imagined was a pleasant exhilaration had been maudlin intoxication.

    2. Extravagantly or excessively sentimental

      Extravagantly or excessively sentimental; mawkish, self-pitying.

      • To cap it all I had written a letter to Mara saying that we had to find a way out soon or I would commit suicide. It must have been a maudlin letter because when she telephoned me she said it was imperative to see me immediately.

    3. Tearful, lachrymose.

    4. A surname originating as a matronymic.

    5. Alternative form of Magdalen (“Magdalen College, Oxford”).

      • At the same school we met a young man of small fortune, and in a subordinate situation at Maudlin.

The neighborhood

Vish — recursive loop

No curated loop yet for maudlin. Loops are being traced one word at a time while the ingestion pipeline matures.

sense glosses and etymology drawn from English Wiktionary · source · CC-BY-SA