Melancholy vs. Melancholia — What's the Difference?

A feeling of pensive sadness, typically with no obvious cause

Melancholia or melancholy (from Greek: µέλαινα χολή melaina chole, meaning black bile) is a concept found throughout ancient, medieval and premodern medicine in Europe that describes a condition characterized by markedly depressed mood, bodily complaints, and sometimes hallucinations and delusions. Melancholy was regarded as one of the four temperaments matching the four humours.

Having a feeling of melancholy; sad and pensive

Extreme, persistent sadness or hopelessness; depression. No longer in clinical use.

Sadness or depression of the spirits; gloom.

Deep sadness or gloom; melancholy

Pensive reflection or contemplation.

(pathology) depression, characterised by irrational fears, guilt and apathy

Black bile.

A kind of mental unsoundness characterized by extreme depression of spirits, ill-grounded fears, delusions, and brooding over one particular subject or train of ideas.

An emotional state characterized by sullenness and outbreaks of violent anger, believed to arise from an excess of black bile.

Extreme depression characterized by tearful sadness and irrational fears

Feeling, showing, or expressing depression of the spirits; sad or dejected.

Causing or tending to cause sadness or gloom

Pensive; thoughtful.

(historical) Black bile, formerly thought to be one of the four "cardinal humours" of animal bodies.

Great sadness or depression, especially of a thoughtful or introspective nature.

(literary) Affected with great sadness or depression.

Depression of spirits; a gloomy state continuing a considerable time; deep dejection; gloominess.

Great and continued depression of spirits, amounting to mental unsoundness; melancholia.

Pensive maditation; serious thoughtfulness.

Ill nature.

Depressed in spirits; dejected; gloomy dismal.

Producing great evil and grief; causing dejection; calamitous; afflictive; as, a melancholy event.

Somewhat deranged in mind; having the jugment impaired.

Favorable to meditation; somber.

A feeling of thoughtful sadness

A constitutional tendency to be gloomy and depressed

A humor that was once believed to be secreted by the kidneys or spleen and to cause sadness and melancholy

Characterized by or causing or expressing sadness;