Melt
/mɛlt/noun
To change from a solid to a liquid by heat.
Did you know?English *melt* comes from an ancient Germanic verb for “to dissolve,” and its cousins spread through old Indo-European languages with the same idea of breaking down fixed form.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Indo-European
PIE
*mel-
“to crush, grind, or dissolve”
Proto-Germanic
PGmc
*smeltaną
“to melt, dissolve”
Old English
English
meltan
“to melt, dissolve, be consumed by heat”
Middle English
English
melten
“to melt; to soften or dissolve”
Modern English
English
melt
“to change from solid to liquid by heat”