Mealt

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. Archaic past form of a verb meaning to turn from solid into liquid through heat
2. Obsolete past tense and participle showing that something has softened or dissolved into a liquid state
3. Old-fashioned past form indicating that a solid substance has become fluid under heat or has dissolved away

Etymology: Old English had "meltan" for "melt," and its past participle "molten" survives today mostly as an adjective, as in "molten lava." "Mealt" is an older or regional past participle that follows the same pattern, with the vowel shifted in the way many English strong verbs changed over time. Its exact dialect range and dates are uncertain, so it is best read as a dated or local variant of "melted," not a standard form. The verb descends from a Germanic root shared with German "schmelzen" and Dutch "smelten," which means the same thing and shows that the word was once tied to the melting of metal and ore.

Synonyms: melted, thawed, liquefied, dissolved, softened

Antonyms: froze, solidified