metal English · revision 2997

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=c. 1250|origins=grc μέταλλον}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: UK /ˈmet.ᵊl/, US /ˈmet̬.ᵊl/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|fro|metal|t=metal; material, substance]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) from [[la|metallum|t=metal, mineral; mine, quarry]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) from [[grc|μέταλλον|tr=métallon|t=mine, quarry; later metal, ore]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) probably a back-formation from [[m|grc|μεταλλεύω|tr=metalleúō|t=to mine, quarry]], a word of unknown origin.^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) A link with Greek metallân “to seek after” has been suggested, though Beekes finds it hardly convincing.^(Etymonline)^(MWU 2024)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ About 1250, in the ''Story of Genesis and Exodus'',^(Barnhart 1988) and the mid-13th century in Etymonline.^(Etymonline) The OED dates its first examples to between 1297 and 1300–1400.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The idea was based on the six metals known from antiquity: gold, silver, copper, iron, lead and tin.^(Etymonline) ''Metal'' and [[mettle]] were once one word, both meaning a material and a quality;^(Cresswell 2021)^(AHD 2000) in the 17th century the quality came to be spirit, first of horses, and by the mid-18th century the spelling ''mettle'' was kept for this sense and ''metal'' for the material.^(Cresswell 2021) Jeremy Taylor used ''metal'' for “mine”, as Latin metallum.^(Trench 1859)^(OED 1989) The adjective, “made of metal”, is from the late 14th century,^(Etymonline) and ''metalwork'' by 1724.^(Etymonline) Broken stone for roads is ''metal'' in British use, and the verb “to surface a road” is from the 19th century.^(AHD)^(OED 1989) As short for ''heavy metal'' music it is by 1980.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1250 – metal.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * late 14th century – adjective, made of metal.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1552 – figuratively, temperament.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1617 – verb, to furnish with metal.^(OED 1989)^(MWU 2024)

+ * 1724 – ''metalwork''.^(Etymonline)

+ * mid-18th century – ''mettle'' separated.^(Cresswell 2021)

+ * 1980 – heavy-metal music.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # Any of a class of [[element|alt=elements]], such as iron, copper or gold, that are usually shiny, good conductors of heat and electricity, and can be melted, hammered or drawn into wire.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # An [[alloy]] of such elements, such as brass or steel.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # Broken stone used for roads or railway beds.^(AHD)

+ # ''(music)'' [[heavy metal]].^(Etymonline)

+

+ ===Verb===

+ # To cover or surface a road with broken stones.^(AHD)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[metallike]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[heavy metal]]

+ * [[mettle]]

+ * [[metallic]]

+ * [[metallurgy]]

+ * [[medal]]

+ * [[metalwork]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}