Melancholy, gloomy, or bad-tempered; having a tendency toward dark or pessimistic moods.
From Latin 'atra bilis' meaning 'black bile,' a bodily humor in ancient medicine believed to cause depression and bad temperament. The term evolved from medieval medical theory about four humors.
This word literally means 'black bile' — ancient doctors thought sadness and grumpiness came from too much dark bile in your body! Even though that science was wrong, the word survived because it perfectly captures that feeling of being irritably gloomy.
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