metal

See also: Metal, métal, and metál

English

metal on Wikipedia

Some well-known metallic elements
aluminium iron copper silver

Etymology

From Middle English metal, a borrowing from Old French metal, from Latin metallum (“metal, mine, quarry, mineral”), itself a borrowing from Ancient Greek μέταλλον (métallon, “mine, quarry, metal”).

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ˈmɛtəl/
Audio (US); [ˈmɛɾɫ̩]: (file)
Audio (UK); [ˈmɛtɫ̩]: (file)
Rhymes: -ɛtəl
Homophones: mettle (general), medal, meddle (in accents with flapping)

Noun

metal (countable and uncountable, plural metals)

(heading) Chemical elements or alloys, and the mines where their ores come from.
1. Any of a number of chemical elements in the periodic table that form a metallic bond with other metal atoms; generally shiny, somewhat malleable and hard, often a conductor of heat and electricity.
  - 2014 April 21, “Subtle effects”, in The Economist, volume 411, number 8884:
    Manganism has been known about since the 19th century, when miners exposed to ores containing manganese, a silvery metal, began to totter, slur their speech and behave like someone inebriated.
2. Any material with similar physical properties, such as an alloy.
  - 1879, R[ichard] J[efferies], chapter 1, in The Amateur Poacher, London: Smith, Elder, & Co., […], →OCLC:
    But then I had the flintlock by me for protection. ¶ There were giants in the days when that gun was made; for surely no modern mortal could have held that mass of metal steady to his shoulder. The linen-press and a chest on the top of it formed, however, a very good gun-carriage; and, thus mounted, aim could be taken out of the window […].
3. (astronomy) An element which was not directly created after the Big Bang but instead formed through nuclear reactions; any element other than hydrogen and helium.
  - 2003, Michael A. Seeds, Astronomy: The Solar System and Beyond, Thomson Brooks/Cole, →ISBN:
    Most of the matter in stars is hydrogen and helium, and the metals (including carbon, nitrogen, oxygen, and so on) were cooked up inside stars.
  - 2008, Lunar and Planetary Institute, Geochemical Society, Oxygen in the solar system, Mineralogical Society of Amer →ISBN
    Thus, for the remaining elements, including oxygen, the solid phase appears to be important. In fact, at a metallicity of Z=0.02, and with a gas-to-dust ratio of 100, about half of the metals — including oxygen — are contained in the solid phase.
  - 2015, Alan Longstaff, Astrobiology: An Introduction, CRC Press, →ISBN, page 350:
    Metals include oxygen and carbon which means that water and organic molecules would have been abundant in the early universe, perhaps paving the way for the emergence of life within a couple of billion years of the Big Bang.
5. Crushed rock, stones etc. used to make a road.
  - 1922, Falls Cyril, The History of the 36th (Ulster) Division‎^[1], M'Caw, Stevenson and Orr, Ltd:
    One of the most important tasks was the metalling of the roads, and the dumping of metal beside them in parts where it was impossible to lay it, in order that work might commence with the assault. The surface of the roads was good, but only because the Division had been holding a front so wide, which made the traffic upon them relatively light.
6. (mining) The ore from which a metal is derived.^[1]
7. (obsolete) A mine from which ores are taken.
  - 1660, Jeremy Taylor, Ductor Dubitantium, or the Rule of Conscience in All Her General Measures; […], volume (please specify |volume=I or II), London: […] James Flesher, for Richard Royston […], →OCLC:
    slaves […] and persons condemned to metals
(heraldry) A light tincture used in a coat of arms, specifically argent (white or silver) and or (gold).
(glassblowing) Molten glass that is to be blown or moulded to form objects.^[2]
(music) A category of rock music encompassing a number of genres (including thrash metal, death metal, heavy metal, etc.) characterized by strong drum-beats and distorted guitars.
(figurative, archaic) The substance that constitutes something or someone; matter; hence, character or temper.
Synonym: mettle
- 1598–1599 (first performance), William Shakespeare, “Much Adoe about Nothing”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene i], page 104:
  Leonato. Well, neece, I hope to ſee you one day fitted with a husband. / Beatrice. Not till God make men of ſome other mettall then earth, would it not grieue a woman to be over-maſtred with a peece of valiant duſt?
The effective power or calibre of guns carried by a vessel of war.
(UK, in the plural) The rails of a railway.
(informal, travel, aviation) The actual airline operating a flight, rather than any of the codeshare operators.
We have American Airlines tickets, but it's on British Airways metal.

Antonyms

(antonym(s) of “any of a number of chemical elements in the periodic table that form a metallic bond with other metal atoms”): nonmetal

Derived terms

Related terms

metalling (noun)

Translations

atomic element or material made of such atoms

Abkhaz: аметалл (ametʼall)
Afrikaans: metaal (af)
Albanian: metal (sq) m
Arabic: فِلِزّ (filizz), مَعْدِن (ar) m (maʕdin)
Egyptian Arabic: معدن m (maʕdin)
Armenian: մետաղ (hy) (metaġ)
Assamese: ধাতু (dhatu)
Asturian: metal (ast) m
Avar: металл (metall)
Azerbaijani: metal (az)
Basque: metal (eu)
Belarusian: мета́л m (mjetál), мэта́ль m (metálʹ) (Taraškievica), мэта́л m (metál) (Taraškievica)
Bengali: ধাতু (bn) (dhatu)
Breton: metal (br) m
Brunei Malay: basi
Bulgarian: мета́л (bg) m (metál)
Burmese: သတ္တု (my) (sattu.)
Carpathian Rusyn: ков m (kov), мета́л m (metál)
Catalan: metall (ca)
Chechen: металл (metall)
Chinese:
Cantonese: 金屬 / 金属 (gam¹ suk⁶)

Mandarin: 金屬 / 金属 (zh) (jīnshǔ), 金 (zh) (jīn)
Chukchi: пыԓвынтын (pyḷvyntyn)
Czech: kov (cs) m
Danish: metal (da) n
Dutch: metaal (nl) n
Eastern Bontoc: komak, lanchok
Esperanto: metalo
Estonian: metall
Ewe: ga
Faroese: málmur m, skervur m, málmbland n
Finnish: metalli (fi)
French: métal (fr) m
Galician: metal (gl) m
Georgian: ლითონი (litoni), მეტალი (meṭali)
German: Metall (de) n
Greek: μέταλλο (el) n (métallo)
Ancient: μέταλλον n (métallon)
Guaraní: kuarepoti
Gujarati: ધાતુ (gu) (dhātu)
Hebrew: מַתֶּכֶת (he) f (matékhet)
Hindi: धातु (hi) m (dhātu), धात (hi) m (dhāt)
Hungarian: fém (hu), érc (hu)
Icelandic: málmur (is) m
Ido: metalo (io)
Ilocano: metal
Indonesian: logam (id)
Interlingua: metallo (ia)
Irish: miotal (ga) m
Middle Irish: mital
Italian: metallo (it)
Japanese: 金 (ja) (kane), 金属 (ja) (kinzoku)
Kalmyk: төмрлг (tömrlg)
Kazakh: металл (kk) (metall)
Khmer: លោហៈ (km) (loohaʼ)
Korean: 금속(金屬) (ko) (geumsok)
Kurdish:
Northern Kurdish: kanza (ku), metal (ku)
Kyrgyz: металл (ky) (metall)
Lao: ໂລຫະ (lō ha)
Latin: metallum (la) n
Latvian: metāls (lv) m
Lithuanian: metãlas (lt) m
Macedonian: метал (mk) m (metal)
Malagasy: metaly (mg)
Malay: logam (ms)
Maori: maitai, mētara (mi)
Marathi: धातू m (dhātū)
Middle English: metal
Mongolian:
Cyrillic: металл (mn) (metall)

Mongolian: ᠮᠧᠲ᠋ᠠᠯ (mētal)
Navajo: béésh
Nepali: धातु (ne) (dhātu)
Norwegian:
Bokmål: metall (no) n

Nynorsk: metall n
Occitan: metal (oc) m
Ossetian: згъӕр (zǧær), металл (metall)
Ottoman Turkish: معدن (maʿden)
Pali: loha n
Pashto: فلز (ps) m (felez), زر (ps) m (zar) (metal, gold)
Persian:
Dari: فِلِز (filiz)

Iranian Persian: فِلِز (felez)
Plautdietsch: Mettol n
Polish: metal (pl) m
Portuguese: metal (pt) m
Quechua: chuqi, q'illay
Romanian: metal (ro) n
Russian: мета́лл (ru) m (metáll), круше́ц (ru) m (krušéc) (archaic)
Sanskrit: धातु (sa) m (dhātu), अयस् (sa) n (ayas), लोह (sa) m (loha)
Serbo-Croatian:
Cyrillic: мѐта̄л m, ко̏вина f

Roman: mètāl (sh) m, kȍvina (sh) f
Slovak: kov m
Slovene: kovina (sl) f
Southern Kalinga: aka
Spanish: metal (es) m
Swahili: metali
Swedish: metall (sv) c
Tagalog: bakal (tl), metal (tl), kansa (tl)
Tajik: металл (metall), фулуз (tg) (fuluz)
Telugu: లోహము (te) (lōhamu)
Thai: โลหะ (th) (loo-hà)
Tibetan: ལྕགས་རིགས (lcags rigs)
Tupinambá: itá
Turkish: metal (tr)
Turkmen: metal
Tuvan: демир (demir)
Tuwali Ifugao: gum'ok, landuk
Ukrainian: мета́л (uk) m (metál)
Urdu: دھات m (dhāt)
Uyghur: مېتال (mëtal)
Uzbek: metall (uz)
Veps: metall
Vietnamese: kim loại (vi)
West Frisian: metaal n
White Hmong: hlau
Yiddish: מעטאַל (metal)
Zhuang: gimsug

certain category of rock music

Arabic: مِيتَال m (metal)
Armenian: մետալ (hy) (metal)
Azerbaijani: metal (az)
Belarusian: мета́л m (mjetál), мэ́тал m (métal), мэта́л m (metál)
Bengali: মেটাল (meṭal)
Bishnupriya Manipuri: মেটাল (meṭal)
Bulgarian: ме́тъл m (métǎl)
Burmese: မက်တယ်လ် (maktail)
Catalan: metal (ca)
Chinese:
Cantonese: 金屬 / 金属 (gam¹ suk⁶)

Mandarin: 金屬 / 金属 (zh) (jīnshǔ)
Czech: metal (cs) m
Danish: metal (da)
Dutch: metal (nl)
Esperanto: metalroko
Estonian: metal (et)
Finnish: metal (fi), metallimusiikki (fi), metalli (fi)
French: metal (fr)
Georgian: მეტალი (meṭali)
German: Metal (de) m
Greek: μέταλ (el) (métal)
Gujarati: મેટલ (meṭal)
Hebrew: מֶטַאל m (metal)
Hungarian: metal (hu)
Icelandic: málmur (is) m
Irish: miotal (ga)
Italian: metal (it)
Japanese: メタル (ja) (metaru)
Kannada: ಮೆಟಲ್ (meṭal)
Korean: 메탈 (metal)
Kurdish:
Central Kurdish: مێتاڵ (mêtall)
Lao: ໂລຫະ (lō ha)
Latin: metallum (la)
Latvian: metāls (lv) m
Lithuanian: metalas (lt) m
Macedonian: метал (mk) m (metal)
Malayalam: മെറ്റൽ (meṟṟal)
Marathi: मेटल (meṭal)
Mingrelian: მეტალი (meṭali)
Nepali: धातु (ne) (dhātu)
Newar: मेटल (meṭala)
Norwegian:
Bokmål: metal
Persian:
Iranian Persian: مِتال (metâl)
Polish: metal (pl) m
Portuguese: metal (pt)
Punjabi: ਮੈਟਲ (maiṭal)
Romanian: metal (ro)
Russian: ме́тал (ru) m (métal), мета́лл (ru) m (metáll)
Scottish Gaelic: meatailt
Serbo-Croatian:
Cyrillic: мѐта̄л m

Roman: mètāl (sh) m
Slovak: metal (sk)
Slovene: metal (sl)
Swedish: metal (sv)
Tamil: மாழை (ta) (māḻai)
Thai: เมทัล (mee-tal)
Turkish: metal (tr)
Ukrainian: ме́тал (uk) m (métal), мета́л (uk) m (metál)
Uzbek: metal (uz)
Welsh: metel (cy)
Yiddish: מעטאַל (metal)

Adjective

metal (comparative more metal, superlative most metal)

(music) Characterized by strong drum-beats and distorted guitars. [1970s and after]
Having the emotional or social characteristics associated with metal music; brash, bold, frank, unyielding, etc.
- 2008, Lich King, “Attack of the Wrath of the War of the Death of the Strike of the Sword of the Blood of the Beast”, in Toxic Zombie Onslaught:
  The beast will destroy everything in his path
  With this song on the upcoming brawl
  It sure is a long one and tough to pronounce but
  It's the most metal title of all
- 2012 August, “Tested Bowling Balls”, in Front‎^[2], number 171, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 40:
  Top tip: Bowling gloves are for sissies, although they look metal as fuck.

Related terms

heavy metal

Verb

metal (third-person singular simple present metals, present participle metaling or metalling, simple past and past participle metaled or metalled)

To make a road using crushed rock, stones etc.

References

^ Rossiter W[orthington] Raymond (1881) “Metal”, in A Glossary of Mining and Metallurgical Terms. […], Easton, Pa.: [American] Institute [of Mining Engineers], […], →OCLC.
^ Edward H[enry] Knight (1877) “Metal”, in Knight’s American Mechanical Dictionary. […], volumes II (GAS–REA), New York, N.Y.: Hurd and Houghton […], →OCLC.

Albanian

Noun

metal m (definite metali)

(chemistry) metal