molten

[mohl-tn]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR molten ON THESAURUS.COM

verb

a past participle of melt¹.

adjective

liquefied by heat; in a state of fusion; melted: molten lead.

produced by melting and casting: a molten image.

Origin of molten

1250–1300; Middle English; old past participle of melt¹

Related formsmol·ten·ly, adverbsu·per·mol·ten, adjectiveun·mol·ten, adjective

melt

[melt]

verb (used without object), melt·ed, melt·ed or mol·ten, melt·ing.

to become liquefied by warmth or heat, as ice, snow, butter, or metal.

to become liquid; dissolve: Let the cough drop melt in your mouth.

to pass, dwindle, or fade gradually (often followed by away): His fortune slowly melted away.

to pass, change, or blend gradually (often followed by into): Night melted into day.

to become softened in feeling by pity, sympathy, love, or the like: The tyrant's heart would not melt.

Obsolete. to be subdued or overwhelmed by sorrow, dismay, etc.

verb (used with object), melt·ed, melt·ed or mol·ten, melt·ing.

to reduce to a liquid state by warmth or heat; fuse: Fire melts ice.

to cause to pass away or fade.

to cause to pass, change, or blend gradually.

to soften in feeling, as a person or the heart.

noun

the act or process of melting; state of being melted.

something that is melted.

a quantity melted at one time.

a sandwich or other dish topped with melted cheese: a tuna melt.

Origin of melt

before 900; Middle English melten, Old English meltan (intransitive), m(i)elten (transitive) to melt, digest; cognate with Old Norse melta to digest, Greek méldein to melt

Related formsmelt·a·ble, adjectivemelt·a·bil·i·ty, nounmelt·ing·ly, adverbmelt·ing·ness, nounnon·melt·a·ble, adjectivenon·melt·ing, adjectiveun·melt·a·ble, adjectiveun·melt·ed, adjectiveun·melt·ing, adjective

Can be confusedevanescence evaporation liquefaction melting thawing transpiration vaporization

Synonyms for melt

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR melt ON THESAURUS.COM

1. Melt, dissolve, fuse, thaw imply reducing a solid substance to a liquid state. To melt is to bring a solid to a liquid condition by the agency of heat: to melt butter. Dissolve, though sometimes used interchangeably with melt, applies to a different process, depending upon the fact that certain solids, placed in certain liquids, distribute their particles throughout the liquids: A greater number of solids can be dissolved in water and in alcohol than in any other liquids. To fuse is to subject a solid (usually a metal) to a very high temperature; it applies especially to melting or blending metals together: Bell metal is made by fusing copper and tin. To thaw is to restore a frozen substance to its normal (liquid, semiliquid, or more soft and pliable) state by raising its temperature above the freezing point: Sunshine will thaw ice in a lake. 4. dwindle. 10. gentle, mollify, relax.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for molten

glowing, fused, igneous

Examples from the Web for molten

Contemporary Examples of molten

There is no better thing on a Sunday afternoon than a fruity, molten, crunchy crumble.
The Barefoot Contessa Knows How To Make Us Crumble
Ina Garten
November 30, 2014
The moist rectangle of cooked meat and molten blob of cheese are then layered in a hard roll.
The Real Cheeseburger Paradise
Jane & Michael Stern
June 22, 2014
When Earth first formed, its surface was molten, so there are no rocks for us to study from that era.
The Moon’s Been Lying About Its Age
Matthew R. Francis
June 15, 2014
In another clip, an angel made from what appears to be molten lava crawls out of the earth.
The Genesis of Noah's Art Show
Alex Suskind
March 7, 2014
Lest you forget our planet has a molten core, this volatile Italian isle will set you straight.
It’s a Big, Big World: Sights That Make You Feel Small
Lonely Planet
December 24, 2013

Historical Examples of molten

In a moment the cast drops like a breath on the molten silver.
The Forest
Stewart Edward White
Where it had been was only blackness and the dying glow of molten rock.
Two Thousand Miles Below
Charles Willard Diffin
He felt it slipping down into his empty stomach, like a steam of molten lead.
The Fat and the Thin
Emile Zola
These are mixed while in a molten condition, and are then allowed to cool.
The Automobile Storage Battery
O. A. Witte
His black hair, with the sunset full upon it, was like molten bronze.
The Forbidden Trail
Honor Willsie

British Dictionary definitions for molten

molten

adjective

liquefied; meltedmolten lead

made by having been meltedmolten casts

verb

the past participle of melt

melt

verb melts, melting, melted, melted or molten (ˈməʊltən)

to liquefy (a solid) or (of a solid) to become liquefied, as a result of the action of heat

to become or make liquid; dissolvecakes that melt in the mouth

(often foll by away) to disappear; fade

(foll by down) to melt (metal scrap) for reuse

(often foll by into) to blend or cause to blend gradually

to make or become emotional or sentimental; soften

noun

the act or process of melting

something melted or an amount melted

Derived Formsmeltable, adjectivemeltability, nounmelter, nounmeltingly, adverbmeltingness, noun

Word Origin for melt

Old English meltan to digest; related to Old Norse melta to malt (beer), digest, Greek meldein to melt

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for molten

adj.

late 13c., from archaic past participle of Old English meltian, a class III strong verb (see melt (v.)).

melt

Old English meltan "become liquid, consume by fire, burn up" (class III strong verb; past tense mealt, past participle molten), from Proto-Germanic *meltanan; fused with Old English gemæltan (Anglian), gemyltan (West Saxon) "make liquid," from Proto-Germanic *gamaltijanan (cf. Old Norse melta "to digest"), both from PIE *meldh-, (cf. Sanskrit mrduh "soft, mild," Greek meldein "to melt, make liquid," Latin mollis "soft, mild"), from root *mel- "soft," with derivatives referring to soft or softened (especially ground) materials (see mild). Figurative use by c.1200. Related: Melted; melting.

Of food, to melt in (one's) mouth is from 1690s. Melting pot is from 1540s; figurative use from 1855; popularized with reference to America by play "The Melting Pot" by Israel Zangwill (1908).