smelt

Meanings

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.
• A fool; a simpleton.
• Production of metal, especially iron, from ore in a process that involves melting and chemical reduction of metal compounds into purified metal.
• Any of the various liquids or semi-molten solids produced and used during the course of such production.

Verb

• Past of smell
• To fuse or melt two things into one, especially in order to extract metal from ore; to meld.

Origin

• From Middle English smelt, from Old English smelt, from Proto-Germanic *smeltaz.
• From very early Middle English smel; likely to derive from Old English, but not recorded.
• From Middle Dutch smelten ("to melt") or Middle Low German smelten ("to melt"), both from Proto-Germanic *smeltaną ("to melt"). Related to English melt and Old English meltan ("to melt"). Cognate to Dutch smelten, German schmelzen.