melting pot

American  

noun

• melting pots
  plural

1. a pot in which metals or other substances are melted or fused.

2. a country, locality, or situation in which cultural assimilation results in blending the heritage and traditions of previously distinct ethnic groups.

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melting pot British  

noun

1. a pot in which metals or other substances are melted, esp in order to mix them

2. an area in which many races, ideas, etc, are mixed

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melting pot Cultural  

1. A term expressing the view that immigrants to the United States have been fused or melted into a single people.

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• melting pots
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of melting pot

late Middle English word dating back to 1375–1425

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

melting pot

Charles said Liverpool was "a melting pot of ideas, warmth and wit"

From BBC ● Oct. 4, 2026

The big, green lady in the harbor and the melting pot and all that.

From Salon ● Sep. 11, 2026

And, as second- and third-generation Texans, Beyoncé and Selena were both able to take their heritage and interpret it, while also melding it with the melting pot of influences they were surrounded by.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 4, 2026

“It is such a melting pot of talented, different people, that is hard to re-create,” says Chime, who met both of his co-founders there.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 16, 2026

Thus, not only is China not a melting pot, but it seems absurd to ask how China became Chinese.

From "Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies" by Jared M. Diamond

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Related Words

• fusion
• pluralism

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