mellow

Soft or tender by reason of ripeness; having a tender pulp.alsofiguratively

• a mellow apple

Matured and smooth, and not acidic, harsh, or sharp.alsofiguratively

• The Claret ſmooth, deep as the lip vve preſs, / In ſparkling fancy, vvhile vve drain the bovvl; / The mellovv-taſted Burgundy; and quick, / As is the vvit it gives, the bright Champaign.
• [H]e was ready and willing to hear what I might have to say: his spirit was of vintage too mellow and generous to sour in one thunder-clap.

Soft and easily penetrated or worked; not hard or rigid; loamy.

• [A] wyse and counnynge gardener […] will first serche throughout his gardeyne where he can finde the most melowe and fertile erth: and therin wil he put the sede of the herbe to growe and be norisshed: […]
• This liketh moorie plots, delights in ſedgie Bovvres, / The graſſy garlands loues, and oft attyr'd with flovvres / Of ranke and mellovv gleabe; a ſwarde as ſoft as vvooll, / VVith her complexion ſtrong, a belly plumpe and full.

Mature; of crops: ready to be harvested; ripe.poeticusually

• Nor autumn yet had bruſh'd from ev'ry ſpray, / With her chill hand, the mellow leaves away; […]

Fruitful and warm.poetic

• And mellow Autumn, charged with bounteous fruit, / Where is she imaged? in what favoured clime / Her lavish pomp, and ripe magnificence?
• Season of mists and mellow fruitfulness, / Close bosom-friend of the maturing sun; / Conspiring with him how to load and bless / With fruit the vines that round the thatch-eaves run; […]

Not coarse, brash, harsh, or rough; delicate, rich, soft, subdued.figurativelyusually

• How ſvveet and mellovv, and yet hovv Majeſtick, is the Sound of it!
• The mellow Harp did not their Ears employ: / And mute was all the Warlike Symphony: / Diſcourſe, the Food of Souls, was their Delight, / And pleaſing Chat, prolong'd the Summers-night.

Senses relating to a person or their qualities.; Well-matured from age or experience; not impetuous or impulsive; calm, dignified, gentle.figuratively

• The cauſe vvas mine, I might haue died for both: / My yeeres vvere mellow, his but young and greene, / My death vvere naturall, but his vvas forced.
• Lets ſee: no Maiſter Greene-wit is not yet / So mellow in yeares as he; […]

Senses relating to a person or their qualities.; Cheerful, genial, jovial, merry; also, easygoing, laid-back, calm, relaxed.figuratively

• In all thy humours, whether grave or mellow, / Thou'rt such a touchy, testy, pleasant fellow; / Hast so much wit, and mirth, and spleen about thee, / There is no living with thee, nor without thee.
• I'm just mad about Saffron / A-Saffron's mad about me / I'm-a just mad about Saffron / She's just mad about me / They call me mellow yellow (quite rightly) / They call me mellow yellow (quite rightly) / They call me mellow yellow

Senses relating to a person or their qualities.; Drunk, intoxicated; especially slightly or pleasantly so, or to an extent that makes one cheerful and friendly.figuratively

• Now the master, mellow almost to the verge of geniality, put his chair aside, turned his back to his audience, and began to draw a map of America on the blackboard, to exercise the geography class upon.

Senses relating to a person or their qualities.; Pleasantly high or stoned, and relaxed after taking drugs; also, of drugs: slightly intoxicating and tending to produce such effects.USfigurativelyslang

• These boys were heavy smokers, and like my high school classmates, were always "high", "cool" and "mellow." They were never violent and were helpful and respectful to the adults in our village.
• Late that night, everyone was sprawled on the sofas and bean bags in the lounge room, mellow because they'd smoked a couple of joints of hash.

The property of being mellow; mellowness.USinformal

A comfortable or relaxed mood.USinformalspecifically

• Yet, conversely, some people searched for the mellow […] Hope for flower power had faded, though the journey into the mellow did not represent idealism; rather, it spelled escape— […]
• Nothing like a suicide to harsh a mellow. On their third date, Lizzie had actually said to him, "You're sort of harshing my mellow." It made him wonder if she might be stupid, and not just young.

Also main mellow: a close friend or lover.USinformal

• I've got attractions like I'm Elvis Costello / Adam Yauch grab the mic 'cause you know you're my mellow

To cause (fruit) to become soft or tender, specifically by ripening.USinformaltransitive

• Then Olives, ground in Mills, their fatneſs boaſt, / And Winter Fruits are mellow'd by the Froſt.
• As time improves the grape's authentic juice, / Mellows and makes the ſpeech more fit for uſe, / And claims a rev'rence in its ſhort'ning day, / That 'tis an honour and a joy to pay.

To cause (food or drink, for example, cheese or wine, or its flavour) to become matured and smooth, and not acidic, harsh, or sharp.USinformaltransitive

To soften (land or soil) and make it suitable for planting in.USinformalregional

• This City is built of white Sun-burnt brickes, is watered with a ſmall ſtreame, which runs in two parts through the Towne, and meloes moſt of the Gardens and Groues within her, whereby ſhee yeelds a thankfull tribute of ſundry fruits.
• Having therefore made choice of ſome fit place of Ground, […] let it be Broken up the Winter before you ſow, to mellow it, eſpecially if it be a Clay, and then the furrow would be made deeper; […]

To reduce or remove the harshness or roughness from (something); to soften, to subdue, to tone down.USfigurativelyinformal

• The page was eaſily mellowd with his attractive eloquence, as what heart of adamant, or encloſed in a crocodyles ſkin (which no yron will pierce) that hath the power to withſtand the Mercurian heavenly charme of hys rhetorique?
• Ever, as on they bore, more loud / And louder rung the pibroch proud. / At first the sounds, by distance tame, / Mellowed along the waters came, / And, lingering long by cape and bay, / Wailed every harsher note away; […]

To cause (a person) to become calmer, gentler, and more understanding, particularly from age or experience.USfigurativelyinformal

• The fervour of early feeling is tempered and mellowed by the ripeness of age.

To cause (a person) to become slightly or pleasantly drunk or intoxicated.USfigurativelyinformal

• He found the bailiff riding by the farm, / And, talking from the point, he drew him in, / And there he mellow'd all his heart with ale, / Until they closed a bargain, hand in hand.

Followed by out: to relax (a person); in particular, to cause (a person) to become pleasantly high or stoned by taking drugs.USalsofiguratively

To mature and lose its harshness or sharpness.USinformalintransitive

To be rendered soft and suitable for planting in.USinformalintransitive

To lose harshness; to become gentler, subdued, or toned down.USfigurativelyinformal

• So now proſperitie begins to mellow / And drop into the rotten mouth of Death: […]
• [T]ill death us lay / To ripe and mellow, here we're stubborn clay.