Metal

Part of speech: noun

Pronunciation: /ˈmɛ.təl/

Definitions

1. A solid material that is typically hard, shiny, malleable, and conducts heat and electricity well
2. A type of solid substance known for being hard and shiny, which can conduct heat and electricity, and is often malleable and ductile in nature
3. This element is characterized by its solid form that is usually lustrous, capable of conducting thermal and electrical energy, and often has malleable and ductile properties

Etymology: The Greek "métallon" originally meant a mine or quarry, the place where ore was dug out of the ground, and only secondarily the material itself. Latin "metallum" kept both senses, so a Roman could speak of a metal as something extracted from a pit as readily as a substance in its own right. The noun then passed through Old French "metal" into Middle English, carrying the older sense of "mine" along with it. That sense of the earth as the source is still visible in the word's neighbours. Ore, mineral, and the idea of working a deposit all cluster around the same notion of digging something out of the ground, and the modern meaning of a lustrous, conductive, malleable substance was built on top of that older picture of the mine.

Synonyms: alloy, element, material, substance, metallic

Antonyms: nonmetal, insulator, organic, gas, liquid