Entry · catalog no. 1033
mellow
/ /ˈmɛloʊ/ /MEL-oh
noun · Harlem · 1930s
✓ Verified
1.
A close friend, a trusted running partner. Also, as a description, someone smooth and unbothered, easy to be around.
“That's my mellow — we came up on the same block.”
Origin & Attribution
Jazz-era Harlem slang recorded in Cab Calloway's 1938 Hepster's Dictionary, where a mellow was a good friend. The relaxed, take-it-easy sense followed from the same root.
1938
Recorded in Calloway's Hepster's Dictionary as 'a good friend'
1960s
Broadens to the relaxed sense
Region of origin
West
Midwest
N.East
South
The Northeast
Harlem · 1930s
Spoken by
Harlem swing musicians; broadly adopted
$MELLOWThe Record · cultural traction
▲ Steady88 yrs
ahead of the mainstream
58/100
peak cultural energy
Introduced to English by the culture — logged here before the mainstream caught on.
Cultural usage — the recordMainstream search interest
First used
1938
in the culture
Cultural energy indexed from documented usage, search interest, and citation frequency. The recorded date is the archive’s permanent point of record.
Hear it spoken
By region — how it actually sounds
@bxgriot
The Bronx, NY
@phillyanne
Philadelphia, PA
Contribute your pronunciation
See also