Amelee (/ˈmeɪleɪ/ or/ˈmɛleɪ/) is a confusedhand-to-hand fight among several people. The English termmelee originated circa 1648 from the French wordmêlée (French:[mɛle]), derived from the Old Frenchmesler, from whichmedley andmeddle were also derived.[1]
The 1812 tabletopwargameKriegsspiel, andH.G. Wells' 1913Little Wars, referred to the hand-combat stage of the game as amelée, ormêlée, respectively.[2][3] The term was brought over totabletop role-playing games such asDungeons & Dragons, and in turn torole-playing video games, to describe any close-combat encounter.[4]
The first point to be considered is the number of combatants on either side and the relative advantages under which they are fighting; the second the losses and duration of the melee
We did at last contrive to do so ; we invented what we call the melee, and our revised rules in the event of a melee will be found set out upon a later page
