Melissa
The name ``Melissa’’ was used as a
personal name in early Greece
and occasionally found in Christian inscriptions of the
It is derived from the Classical Greek word meli ( meli ), which meant "honey", hence "sweetness" or anything sweet, especially "eloquence". The word melissa
( melissa )
meant "bee"
( perhaps a
combining form of meli and
the word leicho ( leicw
)meaning "to lick";
hence mel-lich, "honey-licker". ) It could also be used for honey itself.
The term melissa
was used to describe poets ( honey-tongued ? ), from their culling of the
beauties of nature; the priestesses of
In Roman mythology, Melissa was a
nymph who was said to have invented the art of keeping bees.
In Greek, the word melos
( melos )meant "music" ( sweet sound ? ), "melody", or "song".
The word melon meant "apple" ( sweet taste ? ) or fruit
in general. A possible English
cognate is the word "mellow" -- "soft", "ripe", or
"sweet". In Latin, the word for "honey" is mel, so we get
"meliorate"
-- to make better ( sweeter ? ), "mellifluous" – sweetly
flowing, and "diabetes mellitus" – the passing through
of sugar in the urine.