Skip to main content
CSTSetup
Dictionary · Word part

melan/o

A word root that means black or dark.

MEL-uh-noh root

What it means

The root in words about dark color. Melanin is the pigment that colors skin, hair and eyes; melanocytes are the cells that make it; melanoma is a cancer of those cells; melena is black, tarry stool from bleeding high in the digestive tract.

At a glance

Also writtenmelan-, melano-

Related terms

-oid

A word ending that means like or resembling.

cyt/o

A word part that means cell.

Filed under

Look up another word