island of Canada in the Arctic Ocean, north of Victoria Island: 16,274 sq mi (42,149 sq km)
island of Australia, off the N coast: 2,240 sq mi (5,802 sq km)
Origin:
after R. Saunders, Viscount Melville (1771-1851), First Lord of the Admiralty
See Melville in American Heritage Dictionary 4
American writer whose experiences at sea provided the factual basis of Moby-Dick (1851), considered among the greatest American novels. His other works include short stories, such as “Bartleby the Scrivener” (1856), and the novella Billy Budd (published 1924).
Related Forms:
Mel·vilˈle·an(-vĭlˈē-ən) adjective
, Lake
A saltwater lake of Newfoundland, Canada, in southeast Labrador. It receives the Churchill River in Goose Bay, its southwest arm.