med·ley / ˈmedlē/ • n. (pl. -leys) a varied mixture of people or things; a miscellany: an interesting medley of flavors. ∎  a collection of songs or other musical items performed as a continuous piece: a medley of Beatles songs. ∎  a swimming race in which contestants swim sections in different strokes, either individually or in relay teams.• adj. archaic mixed; motley: a medley range of vague and variable impressions.• v. (past and past part. -leyed or -lied) [tr.] archaic make a medley of; intermix.

medley † combat, conflict XIV; † combination, mixture XV; (in disparaging sense) XVII. — OF. medlee, var. of meslee (mod. mêlée):- Rom. *misculāta, sb. use of fem. pp. of *misculāre MEDDLE.

Medley

a mixture, jumble, hotchpotch; a mixed literary or musical composition.

Examples: medley of astrology and homely reciepts, 1897; of houses, 1885; of mirth with sadness, 1529; of music; of many nations, 1652; of philosophy and rhetoric, 1865; of sounds; of tunes; of voices; of sense and madness, 1755.

medley. Similar to pot-pourri: a collection of parts or passages of well-known songs or pieces arranged so that the end of one merges into the start of the next.