Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

smelt

/smɛlt/

Word Rarity Rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 2.99 in modern English

Syllables: smelt
IPA: /smɛlt/

7

Scrabble Score

5

Letters

1

Syllables

5

Unique Chars

Meaning

noun

Any small anadromous fish of the family Osmeridae, found in the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans and in lakes in North America and northern part of Europe.

noun

A fool; a simpleton.

Obsolete

verb

simple past and past participle of smell

noun

Production of metal, especially iron, from ore in a process that involves heating and chemical reduction of metal compounds into purified metal.

Countable; Uncountable

noun

Any of the various liquids or semi-molten solids produced and used during the course of such production.

Countable; Uncountable

verb

To produce metal, especially iron, from ore in a process that involves heating and chemical reduction of metal compounds into purified metal.

Example Sentences

"These direct Men, they are no Men of fashion, Talk what you will, this is a very Smelt"
"1982, Raymond E. Kirk and Donald F. Othmer, Encyclopedia of Chemical Technology, Wiley, →ISBN, page 405, The green liquor, ie, [sic] the solution obtained on dissolving the smelt, contains an insoluble residue called dregs, which gives it a dark green appearance."
"1996, Arthur J. Wilson, The Living Rock: The Story of Metals Since Earliest Time and Their Impact on Civilization, When the smelt was complete the crucible could be lifted out and the metal poured directly into the moulds, thus avoiding the need to break it up and remelt […]"
"2000, Julian Henderson, The Science and Archaeology of Materials: An Investigation of Inorganic Materials, […] can vary in different positions in the furnace and during the smelt. Furnaces are unlikely to survive the smelts; all that often remains on metal production sites is just furnace bases and broken fragments of furnaces […]"
"2002, Jenny Moore, “Who Lights the Fire? Gender and the Energy of Production”, in Moira Donald and Linda Hurcombe (eds.), Gender and Material Culture in Archaeological Perspective, Palgrave Macmillan, →ISBN, page 130, Women are allowed to play some small part in the smelt if they are breastfeeding or post-menopausal (van der Merwe and Avery, 1988)."

Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *(s)meld- Proto-Indo-European *(s)méldeti Proto-Germanic *smeltaną Proto-Germanic *smeltaz Proto-West Germanic *smelt Old English smelt Middle English smelt English smelt From Middle English smelt, from Old English smelt, from Proto-West Germanic *smelt, from Proto-Germanic *smeltaz.

Origin

Source language: Middle English

Word Breakdown

Root: smelt, *smelt, *smeltaz, smelte, -, *(s)meld-

Usage

Inflected Forms

smelts (plural) smelts (present, singular) smelting (participle, present) smelted (participle, past) smelted (past)

Derived Forms

blacksmelt resmelt smeltable smelter smeltery unsmelt unsmelted

Phrases

European smelt Japanese pond smelt Japanese smelt sand smelt

Rhymes With

felt belt dealt melt pelt welt knelt dwelt celt svelte feldt helt

Questions

How do you pronounce smelt?: The recorded pronunciation is /smɛlt/.
What does smelt mean?: Any small anadromous fish of the family Osmeridae, found in the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans and in lakes in North America and northern part of Europe.
Where does smelt come from?: It is traced to Middle English.

How to pronounce smelt

Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “smelt”.
Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling (/smɛlt/) so you know which sounds to aim for.
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