metallurgy
Americannoun
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the technique or science of working or heating metals so as to give them certain desired shapes or properties.
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the technique or science of making and compounding alloys.
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the technique or science of separating metals from their ores.
noun
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of metallurgy
1695–1705; < New Latin metallurgia < Greek metallourg ( ós ) working in metals, mining + New Latin -ia -ia. See metall-, -urgy
Explanation
Metallurgy is the science of metals. If you know a lot about the chemical makeup of metallic elements, as well as how to produce and purify metal, you're a metallurgy expert. In the 17th century, metallurgy was defined as "the science of smelting," or heating ore to extract metal. The word derives from Greek roots metallon, "metal," and ergon, "work." Working with metal, and having a deep understanding of its chemical properties, including how it combines with other metals to form alloys, is what metallurgy is all about.
Vocabulary lists containing metallurgy
National Spelling Bee '14: Prelims Round 3
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Early Civilizations of India, Lessons 5–7
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The Seven Wonders of Sassafras Spring
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
"Energy consumption is one of the key challenges in current AI hardware," said lead author Dr. Babak Bakhit, from Cambridge's Department of Materials Science and Metallurgy.
From Science Daily • Apr. 23, 2026
Kummer is a 1955 civil engineering graduate of Missouri S&T;, which was then known as the Missouri School of Mines and Metallurgy.
From Washington Times • Oct. 12, 2020
Prosecutors said Kuyumcu, CEO of Global Metallurgy, conspired to export a powder composed of cobalt and nickel without obtaining the required license.
From Washington Post • Jun. 14, 2016
"Metallurgy was in its infancy then," explains Derek Morton, a local steel history enthusiast.
From BBC • May 22, 2015
Metallurgy and textile plants didn’t ring the city, filling the air with smog.
From "Middlesex: A Novel" by Jeffrey Eugenides
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
