name · noun · 4 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot
Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.
Sound
Pronunciation
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US:/məˈlɪsə/
Southern-England:Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
2
name
Meaning 2
A female given name from Ancient Greek, popular in the latter half of the 20th century.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
3
noun
Meaning 3
A plant of the genus Melissa, especially lemon balm (Melissa officinalis), often used medicinally.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
4
noun
Meaning 4
a genus of Old World mints of the family Labiatae
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: genus Melissa
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: asterid dicot genus
History
Etymology
From Ancient Greek μέλισσα (mélissa, “bee, honey, or honeybee”). In Ireland it is sometimes used as a feminine form of the Gaelic male name Maol Íosa (literally “servant of Jesus”).
From Late Latin melissa, from Ancient Greek μέλισσα (mélissa, “bee”), because the plant attracts bees.
Across languages
Translations
40 source translations are retained for this English entry.
Albanian:
Meljisa
— female given name
Cherokee:
ᎺᎵᏌ
(melisa)
— female given name
Chinese Cantonese:
梅麗莎 /梅丽莎
— female given name
Chinese Mandarin:
梅利莎
(Méilìshā)
— female given name
Danish:
Melissa
— female given name
Finnish:
Melissa
— female given name
French:
Mélissa
— female given name
German:
Melissa
— female given name
Greek:
Μέλισσα
(Mélissa)
— female given name
Irish:
Maolíosa
— female given name
Italian:
Melissa
— female given name
Japanese:
メリッサ
(Merissa)
— female given name
Korean:
멜리사
(Mellisa)
— female given name
Persian:
ملیسا
(melisâ)
— female given name
Portuguese:
Melissa
— female given name
Russian:
Мелисса
— female given name
Serbo-Croatian:
Мелиса
— female given name
Serbo-Croatian:
Melisa
— female given name
Swedish:
Melissa
— female given name
Thai:
เมลิสสา
(Melis̄s̄ā)
— female given name
Turkish:
Melisa
— female given name
Catalan:
melisse
— plant of genus Melissa
Chinese Mandarin:
蜜蜂花
(mìfēnghuā)
— plant of genus Melissa
Dutch:
melisse
— plant of genus Melissa
Esperanto:
meliso
— plant of genus Melissa
Finnish:
melissa
— plant of genus Melissa
French:
mélisse
— plant of genus Melissa
German:
Melisse
— plant of genus Melissa
Hungarian:
citromfű
— plant of genus Melissa
Macedonian:
мати́чина
(matíčina)
— plant of genus Melissa
Macedonian:
мато́чина
(matóčina)
— plant of genus Melissa
Norwegian Bokmål:
melisse
— plant of genus Melissa
Norwegian Nynorsk:
melisse
— plant of genus Melissa
Polish:
melisa
— plant of genus Melissa
Polish:
rojownik
— plant of genus Melissa
Russian:
мели́сса
(melíssa)
— plant of genus Melissa
Serbo-Croatian:
matičnjak
— plant of genus Melissa