Alloy

Part of speech: noun, verb

Pronunciation: /ˈæ.lɔɪ/

Definitions

1. A metal made by combining two or more metallic elements to create a material with enhanced properties
2. A substance formed by merging two or more metals to achieve specific desirable traits and improve performance
3. A material produced from the fusion of multiple metal types, often enhancing strength and resistance characteristics

Etymology: The surprise with "alloy" is that the metal sense grew out of an older idea of binding things together, and the same root gave English both the metal and the verb "to alloy" meaning to mix or debase. The noun came into English from Middle French "alloy" (also spelled "aloy"), which in turn came from Old French "aloi," a word tied to the verb "aloiier." That verb traces back to Latin "alligare," meaning "to bind to" or "to tie to," built from "ad" ("to") and "ligare" ("to bind"). The verb has a separate path. English "alayen" was shaped by Middle French "allayer," a variant of "allier" meaning "to assemble" or "to join," which descends from Old French "allier" and the same Latin "alligare." English adopted the verb and reshaped it, so the two forms of "alloy" are related but entered by different routes. Both parts of the word share the idea of joining. A metal alloy binds one metal to another, and the older senses of the family covered the joining of people, things and materials in general.

Synonyms: blend, mixture, composite, fusion, compound

Antonyms: pure element, element, simple substance