Metalled

Part of speech: adjective

Definitions

1. Covered with a solid layer of metal or stones to form a firm surface, typically a road or path
2. Having a top layer made from metal or crushed stones to provide durability and resistance to wear
3. Finished with a hard, flat coating such as metal or gravel to create a stable and smooth surface

Etymology: Roads were once surfaced with stone, and the word for giving them that surface came from the same root as the word for a mine. The Greek "métallon" meant a mine or quarry, the place where ore was dug, and the sense of the extracted substance, metal, grew out of it. Latin took the word as "metallum," meaning mine, quarry, or mineral, and Old French passed it on as "metal," which entered Middle English in the form "metal." So the material and the place it came from were once the same word. "Metalled" is simply the past form of "metal" used as a verb, meaning a road has been covered with a layer of crushed stone or metal to make it hard-wearing. The sense of surfacing with stone came first and the modern adjective follows from it, which is why a "metalled road" can be made of gravel rather than any metal at all.

Synonyms: paved, surfaced, coated

Antonyms: unpaved, rough