Melee

A melee ( or ) is a confused hand-to-hand fight among several people. The English term melee originated circa 1648 from the French word mêlée (), derived from the Old French mesler, from which medley and meddle were also derived.

The 1812 tabletop wargame Kriegsspiel, and H.G. Wells' 1913 Little Wars, referred to the hand-combat stage of the game as a melée, or mêlée, respectively. The term was brought over to tabletop role-playing games such as Dungeons & Dragons, and in turn to role-playing video games, to describe any form of close proximity and physical contact in combat.