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
1
[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
1
before 900;Middle Englishmelten,Old Englishmeltan (intransitive), m(i)elten (transitive) to melt, digest; cognate with Old Norsemelta to digest, Greekméldein 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, adjectiveCan be confusedevanescenceevaporationliquefactionmeltingthawingtranspirationvaporization
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.
late 13c., from archaic past participle of Old English meltian, a class III strong verb (see melt (v.)).
melt
v.
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).
melt
n.
1854, "molten metal," from melt (v.). In reference to a type of sandwich topped by melted cheese, 1980, American English.
