Atrabiliary

//ˌæt.ɹəˈbɪl.i.əɹ.i// adj

adj ·Moderate ·College level

Definitions

Adjective
  1. 1
    Of or relating to black bile. obsolete

    "A Cancer again is known by its renitency of touch, if it be mild it carries a black or livid colour outwards, so made by the peccant humour or atrabiliary juice; there's no heat felt on the touch, but rather a coldness in the part; […]"

  2. 2
    Melancholic or hypochondriac; atrabilious.

    "ATRABIL′IARY, ATRABIL′IOUS, a. Melancholic, or hypochondriacal; from the supposed preponderance of black bile. – atrabiliary capsules, the renal or supra-renal glands or capsules."

Synonyms

All synonyms
miserablemournfulsorrowfulwoefulblithelessblue

Example

More examples

"A Cancer again is known by its renitency of touch, if it be mild it carries a black or livid colour outwards, so made by the peccant humour or atrabiliary juice; there's no heat felt on the touch, but rather a coldness in the part; […]"

Etymology

From Latin ātra bīlis (“black bile”) (āter (“dark, black”) + bīlis (“bile”)) + -ary.

Related phrases

black bile

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.