melting pot

American  

noun

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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Etymology

Origin of melting pot

late Middle English word dating back to 1375–1425

Example Sentences

"This is our fourth generation in Pakistan," he said, adding there are more than 106 Bengali neighbourhoods in Karachi, Pakistan's largest city which is known as a multicultural melting pot.

From Barron's • Feb. 23, 2026

Mr. Sayles notes that the U.S. is often quaintly likened to a melting pot; the reality of the country’s boiling admixture is much more dangerous and much more powerful.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 29, 2026

That’s diversity, the melting pot, the freedom we hold dear to be whatever we are.

From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 27, 2025

"The traditional way of making this material is by essentially a melting pot," Zhong said, referring to the Czochralski approach.

From Science Daily • Nov. 13, 2025

Here they encountered a melting pot of Afroasiatic and Nilo-Saharan farmers and herders growing millet and sorghum and raising livestock in drier areas, along with Khoisan hunter-gatherers.

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

Related Words

• fusion
• pluralism