malt
/mɔlt/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 3.41 in modern English
6
Scrabble Score
4
Letters
1
Syllables
4
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
Malted grain (sprouted grain) (usually barley), used in brewing and otherwise.
Countable; Uncountable
noun
A milkshake with malted milk powder added for flavor.
American usage; Countable; Informal; Uncountable
verb
To convert a cereal grain into malt by causing it to sprout (by soaking in water) and then halting germination (by drying with hot air) in order to develop enzymes that can break down starches and proteins in the grain.
Transitive verb
Example Sentences
Etymology
From Middle English malt, from Old English mealt, from Proto-West Germanic *malt, from Proto-Germanic *maltą (“malt”), from *maltaz (“soft; nesh; weak; squashy; melting”), from Proto-Indo-European *meld-, *mled- (“to crush; grind; make weak”). Cognate with Saterland Frisian Moalt (“malt”), Dutch mout (“malt”), German Malz (“malt”), Swedish malt (“malt”), Old Church Slavonic младъ (mladŭ, “tender; young”), Russian молодой (molodoj, “young; fresh; new”). The Proto-Germanic noun was borrowed into Proto-Slavic as *malta; compare Ukrainian мо́лот (mólot), Czech mláto. More at melt.
Origin
Word Breakdown
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /mɔlt/
- British English: /mɒlt/