Mel′o‐dra″ma (?), n. [F. mélodrame, fr. Gr. μέλοσ song + δρα̑μα drama.] Formerly, a kind of drama having a musical accompaniment to intensify the effect of certain scenes. Now, a drama abounding in romantic sentiment and agonizing situations, with a musical accompaniment only in parts which are especially thrilling or pathetic. In opera, a passage in which the orchestra plays a somewhat descriptive accompaniment, while the actor speaks; as, the melodrama in the gravedigging scene of Beethoven's “Fidelio”.
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Webster's Dictionary 1913
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, C. & G. Merriam Co., 1913.