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melvin

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Melvin¹

  • /ˈmɛlvɪn/

Rhymes with -ɛlvɪn

Where it comes from

Variant of the Scottish surname Melville, from a place name Malleville in Normandy, from Latin mala (“bad”) + Old French ville (“settlement”).

* Used to Anglicize Mac Gille Beathain in Scotland and Ó Maoil Mhín in Ireland.

proper noun

  1. A surname from Old French. Melville always wrote his name Melvinus in Latin, and he is often called Melvin in English. Hence some have concluded that Melvin, and not Melville, was his proper name. But they are merely different modes of pronouncing the same family appellation.
  2. A male given name transferred from the surname. And for some reason, they called me Pete. My mother, who probably dug up the name Melvin from some romantic novel about Englishmen drinking tea, cringed at the "Pete".
  3. An unincorporated community in Choctaw County, Alabama.
  4. A former unincorporated community in Fresno County, California, now incorporated into Clovis.
  5. A village in Ford County, Illinois.
  6. A minor city in Osceola County, Iowa.
  7. An unincorporated community and coal town in Floyd County, Kentucky.
  8. A village in Speaker Township, Sanilac County, Michigan.
  9. An unincorporated community in Richland Township, Clinton County, Ohio.
  10. A ghost town in Custer County, South Dakota.
  11. A town in McCulloch County, Texas.

melvin²

Where it comes from

Used in the 1990s American TV show Salute Your Shorts and 1991 film Bill and Ted's Bogus Journey. Earlier origin unknown.

noun melvins

  1. slang A wedgie performed from in front of the victim.

melvin³

Where it comes from

From the male given name Melvin.

noun melvins

  1. US, derogatory, slang A boring or nerdy person; a dweeb. Dad! You can't leave me here! These guys are total Melvins!

Thesaurus

Closest in meaning: maire, patron, mel, dweeb, dork, poindexter, egghead, nerd, geek, boffin, square, grind, keener, wonk, bookworm, brainiac

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Cite this
MLA

"melvin." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/melvin. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

melvin. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/melvin

Chicago

"melvin." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/melvin.

BibTeX
@misc{melvin_2026,
  title = {melvin},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/melvin},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}