metal
pronunciation
How to pronounce metal in British English:
UK [ˈmetl]
How to pronounce metal in American English:
US [ˈmetl]
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- Noun:
- any of several chemical elements that are usually shiny solids that conduct heat or electricity and can be formed into sheets etc.
- a mixture containing two or more metallic elements or metallic and nonmetallic elements usually fused together or dissolving into each other when molten
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- Verb:
- cover with metal
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- Adjective:
- containing or made of or resembling or characteristic of a metal
Word Origin
- metal
- metal: [13] Greek métallon, a word of unknown origin, had a range of meanings, including ‘mine’ (the original sense) and ‘mineral’ as well as ‘metal’. These were carried over into Latin metallum, but by the time the word reached English, via Old French metal, ‘metal’ was all that was left. Mettle [16] is a variant spelling of metal, used to distinguish its metaphorical senses.Closely related is medal [16], which etymologically means ‘something made of metal’. It comes via French médaille and Italian medaglia from a general Romance form *medallia. This was an alteration of Vulgar Latin *metallea, a derivative of Latin metallum. Medallion [17] goes back via French to Italian medaglione ‘large medal’.=> medal, medallion
- metal (n.)
- mid-13c., from Old French metal "metal; material, substance, stuff" (12c.), from Latin metallum "metal; mine, quarry, mineral, what is got by mining," from Greek metallon "metal, ore" (senses only in post-classical texts; originally "mine, quarry, pit"), probably from metalleuein "to mine, to quarry," of unknown origin, but related somehow to metallan "to seek after." Compare Greek metalleutes "a miner," metalleia "a searching for metals, mining."
- metal (adj.)
- late 14c., from metal (n.).
Antonym
Example
- 1. Doctors had fixed it in place with metal pins .
- 2. By an 1889 international accord , the mass of this metal cylinder defines the kilogram .
- 3. Neodymium is a rare earth metal .
- 4. Metal detectors are a big worry .
- 5. Some schools have installed metal detectors .