metallic

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin metallicus (“of metal; of mines”),^[2][3][4] from Ancient Greek μεταλλικός (metallikós, “of mines”), which in Hellenistic Greek also meant "of metal",^[2][5] from μέταλλον (métallon, “mine; metal, ore”), the source of metal.^[4][2] Merriam-Webster also allows a borrowing through French métallique, recorded in French from about 1500.^[5][2]

Earliest recorded meaning

Of or relating to metal, containing metal, or having the nature of a metal: ?a1425, in a translation of Guy de Chauliac's Grande Chirurgie.^[2] Etymonline glosses the early 15th-century use as "of metal, made from metal".^[4]

Semantic evolution

The word stayed close to its first meaning, but spread from substances to objects made of metal (1712) and to money in coin as opposed to paper (1790, in Burke, as in metallic currency).^[2] For a time (1649–1834) it could also mean relating to mining, a sense nearer the Greek.^[2][6] In chemistry, by 1797 (1741 in the OED), it described a metal in its pure, uncombined state.^[4][2] From the 1790s it was used of things that only resemble metal: a lustre or colour (1794), a taste (1800) and, in Laennec's medicine and later generally, a sharp, ringing or harsh sound or voice (1821).^[2][6] As a noun it has meant a substance or article containing metal since 1563, and since 1976 a metallic paint or finish, as on a car.^[2]

Timeline

• ?a1425 – of or relating to metal.^[2][4]
• 1563 – noun, a substance containing metal; usually plural.^[2]
• 1649 – relating to mining (obsolete after 1834).^[2][6]
• 1712 – made of metal.^[2]
• 1741 – of a metal, chemically uncombined.^[2] Etymonline dates this use by 1797.^[2][4]
• 1790 – consisting of coin rather than paper money.^[2]
• 1794 – having the lustre or colour of metal.^[2]
• 1800 – of a taste, like metal.^[2]
• 1821 – of a sound, sharp and ringing.^[2]
• 1976 – noun, a metallic paint or finish.^[2]

Modern meaning

Adjective

1. Of, made of, or containing metal: metallic components.
2. Like metal in appearance, especially having a shiny lustre: a coat in metallic blue.
3. Of a sound: sharp and ringing, like metal being struck; of a voice, harsh.
4. Of a taste: unpleasant, like that of metal.
5. (chemistry) Of a metal: existing in the free, uncombined state.

Noun

1. A metallic paint or finish, or a fabric or yarn made of or coated with metal.

Word family

• metallically
• bimetallic
• intermetallic
• monometallic
• multimetallic
• organometallic
• semimetallic
• submetallic

Related words

• metal
• metallurgy
• mettle
• medal

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
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 Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ a b Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
6. ^ a b c Kay, Christian; Roberts, Jane; Samuels, Michael; Wotherspoon, Irené, eds. (2009), Historical Thesaurus of the Oxford English Dictionary, Oxford: Oxford University Press; online edition (2024)