melancolía

Melancolía, or melancolía in Spanish, is a term used to describe a deep, often pensive sadness that can include introspection and a somber mood. The word comes from Latin melancholia, itself from Greek melas “black” and chole “bile,” linking the concept to ancient theories about bodily humors and temperament.

Historically, melancholy was one of the four humors in ancient and medieval medicine, attributed to an excess of black bile and associated with a melancholic temperament: cautious, thoughtful, and sensitive, with a tendency toward worry. In later centuries the term evolved from a temperament label to a clinical notion, ultimately becoming part of psychiatric diagnoses. By the 19th and 20th centuries, melancholia began to be treated as a specific depressive condition rather than a general mood.

In contemporary psychiatry, melancholia is used as a specifier for major depressive disorder in many diagnostic systems. It is typically described as a mood disturbance with features such as a pervasive loss of pleasure (anhedonia) or a mood that does not react to positive stimuli, along with at least three of: early morning awakening, significant weight loss, psychomotor agitation or retardation, excessive guilt, diminished ability to think or concentrate, and mood that is consistently worse in the morning. Some researchers distinguish biologically driven melancholia as a more severe or distinctive form, though terminology and criteria vary.

Culturally, melancolía is a common motif in Spanish-language literature, music, and visual arts, often linked to themes of longing, existential reflection, and mood. See also melancholia, depression, mood disorders.