Smelts

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. To extract metal from ore by heating and melting
2. To convert a substance by intense heat into a molten state
3. To fuse and separate materials, typically metals, through high-temperature processes

Etymology: "Smelts" is the third-person singular present of "smelt", and also the plural of the fish "smelt", which is a separate word. The verb traces to Old English "smelt", from Proto-West Germanic and Proto-Germanic roots meaning "to melt", and it is closely tied to English "melt" and Old English "meltan". The Proto-Germanic verb carried the plain sense of liquefying by heat, so the metallurgical meaning grew out of that basic idea of something turning from solid to liquid. Its cognates show the same family resemblance across the continent. Dutch "smelten" and German "schmelzen" both mean "to melt," so the verb has stayed close to its original sense in neighbouring languages for well over a thousand years. In English, the verb's specialised use for extracting metal from ore by heating is what gives the word its present meaning.

Synonyms: melts, fuses