meltdown

Etymology

It is formed from English melt + down,^[2][3] a noun use of the phrasal verb melt down,^[4][5][6] which Etymonline records from the 1630s.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

The action or process of melting: 1919, in the Canadian Mining Journal.^[4] Etymonline dates the sense "the melting of metal" by 1922,^[2] and Merriam-Webster gives 1937 as its first known use.^[6]

Semantic evolution

By 1956 the word was used of the accidental melting of the core of a nuclear reactor,^[2] and this became its main technical sense.^[4][7] Figurative uses began in the United States in 1979: any sudden and disastrous collapse, especially a rapid fall of a currency or a market.^[4][7] From 1980 it also meant a loss of control over one's emotions or behaviour, a mental collapse or a tantrum.^[4][6] Etymonline dates the sense "breakdown in self-control" from 1979.^[2] A rare sense, a mass of melted material, is recorded from 1973.^[4]

Timeline

• 1630s – the verb phrase melt down.^[2]
• 1919 – noun, the action or process of melting.^[4]
• 1937 – first known use in Merriam-Webster.^[6]
• 1956 – the accidental melting of the core of a nuclear reactor.^[2]
• 1973 – a mass of melted material (rare).^[4]
• 1979 – a sudden disastrous collapse, as of a currency or market.^[4]
• 1980 – a loss of emotional control; a tantrum.^[4]

Meanings

Noun

1. The accidental melting of the fuel in the core of a nuclear reactor, with the risk that radiation escapes: Engineers worked to prevent a meltdown.^[7][6][4]
2. A sudden and disastrous collapse or decline: a housing-market meltdown.^[7][6][4]
3. (informal) A sudden loss of control over one's feelings or behaviour; a tantrum: The tired toddler had a meltdown at the checkout.^[4][6][5]
4. The process of melting something, as scrap metal.^[6][4]

Related words

• melt down
• melt
• down

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. ^ a b Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
6. ^ a b c d e f g h Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
7. ^ a b c d Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins