mantle

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈmæn.təl/^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English mantel, partly inherited from Old English mentel (“cloak”) and partly borrowed from Old French mantel (“cloak”),^{[2][3][4][5][6]} both from Latin mantellum (“cloak”),^{[2][3][4][5][6]} perhaps from a Celtic source,^[3][4] or, if it is the same as mantēlum “cloth, napkin”, perhaps from manus “hand”.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

A loose sleeveless cloak (c. 897).^[7][3][4]

Semantic evolution

Figuratively a mantle is anything that envelops or conceals (c. 1300).^[4][7] The allusive use for authority or pre-eminence handed on to a successor (1789) comes from Elijah's mantle, which passed to Elisha.^[4][7] Scientific senses include the body wall of a mollusc that secretes its shell,^[2][5][6][1] the incandescent hood of a gas lamp,^[2][6][1] and the layer of the Earth between crust and core (1940).^[4][2][6] The verb meant “to wrap in a mantle” (c. 1450),^[7] and, of liquids, “to become covered with a scum or froth” (1626) and, of the face, “to flush” (1707).^[7][4]

Timeline

• c. 897 – a loose sleeveless cloak.^[7]
• c. 1300 – something that covers or conceals.^[4]
• c. 1450 – verb, to wrap in a mantle.^[7]
• 1626 – verb, of liquids, to form a coating or froth.^[7][4]
• 1707 – verb, to blush.^[7][4]
• 1789 – Elijah's mantle, inherited authority.^[4][7]
• 1940 – the layer of the Earth below the crust.^[4]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. A loose, sleeveless outer garment; a cloak.
2. A figurative cloak representing authority or responsibility, as in take up the mantle of leadership.
3. Something that covers, envelops or conceals.
4. (geology) The layer of the Earth between the crust and the core.
5. (zoology) The fold of body wall that lines and secretes the shell of a mollusc.
6. A mesh hood in a gas lamp that glows brightly when heated.
7. A variant spelling of mantel.

Verb

1. To cover with or as if with a mantle; to conceal.
2. To spread over a surface, or to become covered with a coating.
3. To blush or be overspread with colour.

Word family

• gas mantle

Related words

• mantel
• mantilla
• manteau

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
3. ^ a b c d Barnhart, Robert K., ed. (1995), The Barnhart Concise Dictionary of Etymology, New York: HarperCollins
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Harper, Douglas, Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ a b c Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
6. ^ a b c d e Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary (1999), 2nd ed., New York: Random House
7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press