Smalt
/smɔːlt/noun
A blue pigment made from powdered cobalt glass, used in painting and ceramics.
Did you know?Smalt entered English through German and Italian from a word meaning “to smelt” or “to melt,” because the pigment was made by melting cobalt with glass before grinding it into powder.
Etymological Timeline
Late Middle High German
MHG
smalt
“blue glass pigment; cobalt glass”
Italian
It
smalto
“enamel; glaze; blue pigment”
German
Gm
Schmalte
“blue pigment made from ground cobalt glass”
17th Century
English
smalt
“a blue pigment used in painting and decorative arts”
Modern English
English
smalt
“a cobalt-based blue pigment or ground colored glass”