meltingn.1
/ˈmɛltɪŋ/, U.S. /ˈmɛltɪŋ/ 1.
a. The action of melt v.1; an instance of this. Also in Old English: †digestion (obsolete). Also with away, down.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > liquid > making or becoming liquid > [noun]
meltingeOE
humectation1477
liquefaction1477
colliquation1601
eliquation1603
dissolutiona1616
liquation1617
resolution1644
diffluence1673
uncurdling1673
flux1684
fluxion1731
fluidification1837
liquescence1875
fluidization1932
the world > matter > liquid > making or becoming liquid > action or process of melting > [noun]
meltingeOE
fusion1555
fusing1832
meltdown1919
society > occupation and work > industry > working with specific materials > working with metal > [noun] > heating > melting
welling1424
melting1444
conflature1669
the mind > emotion > compassion > [noun] > state of being moved by
melting1526
yearning1578
the world > space > extension in space > reduction in size or extent > [noun] > gradual
degradation1730
dwindlement1863
melting1897
eOE Bald's Leechbk. (Royal) (1865) ii. 160 (table of contents) Be lattre meltunge sumra metta.
eOE Bald's Leechbk. (Royal) (1865) ii. xlvi. 258 Famig [biþ] utgang micge ageolwod & lytel biþ þæs innoþes meltung.
c1350 Psalter (BL Add. 17376) in K. D. Bülbring Earliest Compl. Eng. Prose Psalter (1891) liv. 25 (MED) Our Lord..ne shal nouȝt ȝeuen euermore meltynge [L. fluctuationem] to þe ryȝtful.
1391 in L. T. Smith Exped. Prussia & Holy Land Earl Derby (1894) 86 (MED) Pro meltyng de sepo et iiij lb. pinguedinum, vj s. pr.
1444 Rolls of Parl. V. 109 The Maistr' of his Mynt..to have..for his labour of double meltyng, blaunching..and other costs.
1483 Catholicon Anglicum (BL Add. 89074) (1881) 234 A Meltynge, deliquium, liquamen, liquefaccio.
1526 W. Bonde Pylgrimage of Perfection iii. sig. EEEiiiiv There foloweth the moste blessed effecte, that is a liquefaction or a myltyng of the soule.
1589 R. Lane in R. Hakluyt Princ. Navigations iii. 741 Forthwith it melteth, and doeth yeelde in 5. partes, at the first melting, two parts of metall for three partes of oare.
1605 T. Tymme tr. J. Du Chesne Pract. Chymicall & Hermeticall Physicke i. xiii. 59 In the liquation or melting of gold with other metalls.
1662 J. Chandler tr. J. B. van Helmont Oriatrike 75 Let the neck be shut with a Hermes Seal, by the melting of the glasse in the same place.
1740 W. Seward Jrnl. 13 There was much melting under both Sermons.
1775 S. J. Pratt Liberal Opinions (1783) III. lxxx. 94 I shall be with you and your good man again, in the melting of a lump of sugar.
1797 tr. Constant de Massoul Treat. Art of Painting 57 If, after every melting, you perceive that any air-bubbles have arisen, or [etc.].
1822 J. M. Good Study Med. II. 248 Even in abscesses, where there is a loss of substance, it is not the melting down of the solids that gives rise to the pus.
1868 F. H. Joynson Metals in Constr. 68 The strength is increased up to a certain number of meltings.
1897 T. C. Allbutt et al. Syst. Med. IV. 477 The injections [of thyroid gland extract]..were found to bring about a rapid melting away of the swelling.
1917 E. Wharton Summer vii. 106 She had known exactly what she would feel if Harney should take her in his arms: the melting of palm into palm and mouth on mouth.
1933 A. W. Barton Text Bk. Heat vi. 110 The changes which accompany the melting of amorphous solids,..are not so simple as those which have just been described.
1983 E. Pizzey Watershed i. iv. 33 Her body felt a great heat, and she sensed a curious melting inside.
b. Surveyor of the Melting (also Meltings) n. an officer of the Royal Mint who oversees the melting down of metals for coinage. Now historical. the Meltings: the office of Surveyor of the Meltings (by the 18th cent. the office had become a sinecure).
ΘΚΠ
society > trade and finance > money > coining > [noun] > coiner > officers of the mint
Master of the Coin1423
Master of the Mint1423
Warden of the Mint1463
Usher of the Coins, Change, or Exchange1485
melter1511
mint master1528
Surveyor of the Melting (also Meltings)1556
clerk of the irons1566
master-worker1622
society > trade and finance > money > coining > [noun] > coiner > officers of the mint > office of
the Meltings1807
1556 Patent Roll, 3 & 4 Philip & Mary 4 Sept. (P.R.O.: C 66/916) m. 16v Thomas Danyell Surveyor of the melting.
a1607 in P.R.O. E351/2030 Paule Swallowe clerke of the yrons and Surveyor of the meltinge house.]
1670 J. Pettus Fodinæ Regales 41 The Surveyor of the Melting, who is to see the Silver cast out.
1684 E. Chamberlayne 2nd Pt. Present State Eng. (ed. 12) ii. 224 The Surveyor of the Melting.
1766 J. Entick Surv. London in New Hist. London IV. 341 Surveyor of the meltings, clerk of the irons.
1807 ‘P. Plymley’ Three More Lett. on Catholics 10 Suppose the person to whom he [sc. the Chancellor of the Exchequer] applied for the Meltings, had withstood every plea of wife and fourteen children, no business and good character, and refused him this paltry, little office [etc.].
1807 ‘P. Plymley’ Three More Lett. on Catholics 10 But do not refuse me the Irons and the Meltings now.
1992 G. P. Dyer & P. P. Gaspar in C. E. Challis New Hist. Royal Mint iv. 402 As for the combined posts of surveyor of the meltings and clerk of the irons, these were held for many years by George Selwyn (1740–91) and then by Spencer Perceval (1791–1812).
2. In plural. Melted material; a substance produced by melting.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > liquid > making or becoming liquid > action or process of melting > [noun] > melted substance
meltings1558
colliquament1657
melt1854
1558 W. Warde (title) The Secretes of the reverende Maister Alexis of Piemovnt. Containyng excellente remedies against diuers diseases,..with the manner to make distillations,..fusions and meltynges.
1712 J. James tr. A.-J. Dézallier d'Argenville Theory & Pract. Gardening 188 Such Waters..are no more than a Collection of Rain-Water, and the Meltings of Snow.
1854 J. Mullan Rep. Bitter Root Valley in Rep. Explor. Route to Pacific (U.S. War Dept.) (1855) I. ii. xviii. 524 The mountains forming belts or girdles, necessitate the case of the meltings of their snows being received in these reservoirs at their base.
1876 Appletons' Jrnl. 15 Jan. 68/3 Besides the falls of the Sarca in the bottom of the valley, the meltings of two great ice-fields have to find a way down its precipitous sides.
1951 J. Agee Morning Watch ii. 19 They revolved candlestubs..just above a flame, and watched the meltings add themselves to the already considerable cone of wax.
1999 San Francisco Chron. (Nexis) 9 Dec. b10 Guests will enter through an igloo cave..and sit on ice couches and chairs. An ‘ice-girl’ will employ a wet vacuum to clean up the meltings.
Compounds
C1. General attributive.† melting-bellows n. Obsolete rare
ΚΠ
1434 in J. Blair & N. Ramsay Eng. Medieval Industries (1991) v. 88 [Walter Colt, brasier of Mile End, left a pair of] meltyngbelys.
melting chamber n.
ΚΠ
1838 Lit. Gaz. 3 Feb. 73/2 Particular attention must be paid to the temperature of the liquid, the moulds, and the melting-chamber, to prevent crystallisation in the moulds.
1890 W. J. Gordon Foundry 14 Into these red-hot chambers the fresh gas and air are turned and heated before they enter the melting-chamber.
1944 Jrnl. Polit. Econ. 52 208/2 The regenerative chambers were designed..to preheat the gas and air before they were ignited in the melting chamber.
2006 C. Schmitz Handbk. Aluminium Recycling iii. ii. 140 The pyrolytic gas from the melting chamber is recycled by hot air blowers.
melting furnace n.
ΚΠ
1609 Hilderstoun Silver Mines I. f. 167, in Dict. Older Sc. Tongue (at cited word) The melting furnace.
1758 A. Reid tr. P. J. Macquer Elements Theory & Pract. Chym. I. 187 The melting furnace is designed for applying the greatest force of heat to the most fixed bodies, such as metals and earths.
1839 A. Ure Dict. Arts 587 The founding or melting furnace is a square brick building,..at each angle of this square a small oven or arch is constructed.
1990 Metals & Materials 6 421/1 Gas atomisers are to be incorporated into Cousarc's vacuum induction melting furnaces for the production of gas atomised metal powders.
melting ladle n.
ΚΠ
1547 Inventory Henry VIII in Archaeologia (1982) 107 192/1 Ordenaunce and munycions... Melting ladells.
1684 Minutes Hudson's Bay Co. (1946) II. 306 1 melting ladle, 1 dipping ladle, 30 tompkins.
1783 in R. T. Durrett Centenary of Louisville (1893) 147 [Military stores including] 25 melting Ladles.
1912 H. S. Sackett in H. Petroski Pencil (1989) viii. 91 Each person that wanted such a pencil made it. The tools and materials consisted of a goose quill, a bullet, a melting ladle, and a turnip.
1986 Electric Furnace Proc. 1 Apr. 17/2 Steel refining after the melting furnace is establishing the best conditions for continuous melting in the EAF; continuous melting-ladle metallurgy will improve both quality and productivity.
melting-oven n.
ΚΠ
1683 J. Pettus tr. L. Ercker iii. x. 247 in Fleta Minor i The melting Oven to try the Copper Oars from the copper-stone.
1891 Cent. Dict. Tempering-oven, in glass manuf., an annealing-oven used after the melting-oven.
1997 Prague Post (Nexis) 23 July a5/3 Flooded Vítkovice operations in Dolní and Nová Ves had to shut down melting-ovens, metal-pressing lines and related operations.
melting pan n.
ΚΠ
1374 in J. Blair & N. Ramsay Eng. Medieval Industries (1991) v. 87 [Richard atte Weye left a pair of bellows, two little pans called]meltyngpannys.
1618 Minutes May in S. M. Kingsbury Rec. Virginia Company (1933) III. 96 Six hun. wt of lead and melting pans 3.
1780 in Mansfield Manuscripts (1992) II. 919 I set the melting pan for Defendant [sc. a tallow maker].
1884 Implement & Machinery Rev. 1 Dec. 6711/1 The sugar..passes..into the ‘blow-ups’ or melting pans.
1911 Encycl. Brit. XXVI. 42/2 The melting pans are generally circular vessels, fitted with a perforated false bottom, on which the sugar to be melted is dumped.
2003 J. P. Hurley et al. in E. J. Opila et al. High Temp. Corrosion & Materials Chem. IV. 257 The slag is screw-fed into the furnace system as sandlike grains where it drops into a platinum melting pan.
melting-place n.
ΚΠ
?c1475 Catholicon Anglicum (BL Add. 15562) f. 79 A meltynge place, conflatorium.
1650 T. Fuller Pisgah-sight of Palestine ii. v. 133 The Hebrew name of Zarephah, signifieth a conflatory or melting place, where metals..were made fusil by the fire in their furnaces.
1770 G. Smith tr. Laboratory (ed. 5) 8 Take a lute, mix it with some pounded glass, and lute it well, let it dry very well before a fire, then take a brick-bat, put it in your melting-place, and lute your crucible upon it.
1854 Hull Improv. Act 33 Any candle-house, melting-house, melting-place or soap-house.
1996 M. Nawalany & A. Trykozko in M. Niezgodka & P. Strzelecki Free Boundary Probl. 322 Overall geometry of the melting place (e.g. electrical furnace) does change in course of the melting process.
melting shop n.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > workplace > places for working with specific materials > place for working with metal > [noun] > for melting or smelting
melting shop1555
smelting-house1610
smelt-house1693
smelt-mill1772
smeltery1814
forge1839
smelter1877
1555 R. Eden in tr. Peter Martyr of Angleria Decades of Newe Worlde Pref. sig. biiii In the two meltynge shoppes of the gold mines of the Ilande of Hispaniola, is molten yearely three hundreth thousande pounde weyght.
1892 Labour Comm. Gloss. Melting Shop and Plant, the furnaces used in the melting and converting of iron into steel and the producers for the making of gas for such furnaces.
1959 Engineering 9 Jan. 58/1 A scrap yard adjoins the melting shop, the handling equipment including a..baling press.
2000 Mining Jrnl. (Nexis) 7 Jan. 8 The investment at Tornio will include a new melting shop with an electric arc furnace.
C2. † melting heat n. Obsolete rare = melting point n.
melting book n. now historical an account book used to record quantities of metal melted.
ΘΚΠ
society > trade and finance > money > coining > [noun] > metal used for coining > record of
melting book1622
1622 G. de Malynes Consuetudo 283 As for your Melting booke where the allay is entred, if you will charge the Mint-master thereby, let it be done distinctly for siluer, and copper, or [etc.].
1757 S. Paterson Catal. Coll. MSS Sir Julius Cæsar, Knt. 9 The master worker of the monies must answer to the warden..according to his bills or receipt delivered to the warden, and not according to the melting book, 1606.
1868 G. W. Porter tr. Regul. Royal Mint Stockholm in First Rep. Commissioners into Conditions Exchequer Standards App. 272/2 The Master of the Mint shall, in a book called the melting book,..enter an account of each melting.
1992 C. E. Challis New Hist. Royal Mint iii. 323 These details concerning the recoining of the French dowry are taken from what appears to be the only surviving melting book for this period.
melting cone n. a small conical vessel made of copper or brass, used in assaying metals.
ΚΠ
1741 tr. J. A. Cramer Elements Art of assaying Metals iii. 72 You may use, instead of melting Cone,..a large brass or iron-Mortar, or any large iron-Vessel whatever.
1807 A. Aikin & C. R. Aikin Dict. Chem. & Mineral. I. 525/1 When the fusion is compleat it must be poured into a melting cone previously heated and greased.
1918 A. C. Fieldner et al. Fusibility of Coal Ash 86 Unburned dextrin or other organic binding materials may also under certain conditions cause the melting cone to swell.
1993 M. E. Chakley et al. in I. G. Matthew World Zinc '93 329/1 Belt filter cake is continuously fed to a melting cone which is also fed by dirty molten sulphur contained in the dirty sulphur pit into which the melting cone discharges.
melting-day n. now rare the day on which a tallow-chandler boils down animal remains to render the fat.
ΚΠ
1791 J. Boswell Life Johnson anno 1775 I. 473 An eminent tallow-chandler [who had retired from business]..paid frequent visits to his old shop, where he desired they might let him know their melting-days, and he would come and assist them.
1798 G. Colman Heir at Law i. i Most of your proud folks make no bones of tippling with a tallow-chandler, in his back-room, on a melting day.
1875 Appletons' Jrnl. 19 June 785/2 ‘Let me come in on melting-days,’ said the retired tallow-chandler.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > properties of materials > temperature > heat > [noun] > specific degree of heat
red heatc1540
fury fire1644
adustness1652
white heat1664
blood heat1678
welding heat1710
black heat1800
welding1842
boiling-heat1846
red-hot1865
melting heat1868
1868 F. H. Joynson Metals in Constr. 102 The melting heat is 442° Fahr.
melting house n. a building in which the process of melting is carried out, esp. a mint.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > equipment > furnace or kiln > furnace > [noun] > building or room containing furnace
melting house1431
fire room1657
society > trade and finance > money > coining > [noun] > mint > parts of
bullion1336
melting house1431
rolling room1816
1431 in J. Raine Testamenta Eboracensia (1855) II. 16 (MED) Le meltynghouse.
1541 in H. M. Paton Accts. Masters of Wks. (1957) I. 290 The melting hous.
1647 L. Haward Charges Crown Revenue 23 Surveyor of the melting-house.
1778 J. Miller in Grose's Antiquarian Repertory (1807) I. 241 I should refer the three Roman numerals as a melting-house mark..to the number of Pigs melted.
1854 Hull Improv. Act 33 Any candle-house, melting-house, melting-place or soap-house.
1967 A. K. Osborne Encycl. Iron & Steel Industry 97/2 The melting hole..is a refractory-lined chamber,..the top being level with the floor of the melting house in which the work of charging and teeming is carried out.
melting point n. the temperature at which a solid substance melts.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > properties of materials > temperature > [noun] > at which some specific condition occurs
freezing-point1748
boiling-point1773
absolute zero1798
firing point1807
melting temperature1827
ice point1832
dew-point1833
melting point1838
neutral temperature1854
fusing point or temperature1860
welding point1868
flashing-point1878
flashpoint1878
mp1880
ignition temperature1881
silver-point1882
fire point1884
ignition point1887
neutral point1892
smoking point1915
smoking temperature1915
pour point1922
smoke point1933
1838 Southern Literary Messenger 4 360/1 The ice first expanding with an increase of temperature, until it reaches the melting point.
1898 Rev. Brit. Pharmacy 51 Solubilities and melting-points are given in much fuller detail than in the last edition.
1948 A. L. M. Sowerby Dict. Photogr. (ed. 17) 362 A hardener containing 1½ per cent. of potash alum..may be expected to raise the melting point of the gelatine.
1990 P. Kearey & F. J. Vine Global Tectonics ii. 39 The melting point of rocks..increases with depth.
melting temperature n. = melting point n.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > properties of materials > temperature > [noun] > at which some specific condition occurs
freezing-point1748
boiling-point1773
absolute zero1798
firing point1807
melting temperature1827
ice point1832
dew-point1833
melting point1838
neutral temperature1854
fusing point or temperature1860
welding point1868
flashing-point1878
flashpoint1878
mp1880
ignition temperature1881
silver-point1882
fire point1884
ignition point1887
neutral point1892
smoking point1915
smoking temperature1915
pour point1922
smoke point1933
1827 M. Faraday Chem. Manip. iv. 136 Thermometers are generally graduated by having two points marked upon their stems corresponding to the melting temperature of ice and the boiling temperature of pure water.
1941 Thorpe's Dict. Appl. Chem. (ed. 4) V. 573/1 Silica scum is sometimes found on the top of tank-melted glass if the melting temperature is not very high.
1991 Antiquaries Jrnl. 70 103 A temperature of 450°C is usually accepted as the upper limit of the melting temperatures of soft solders.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2001; most recently modified version published online June 2022).
meltingn.2
/ˈmɛltɪŋ/, U.S. /ˈmɛltɪŋ/ Brewing. English regional (northern). rare.
The action or process of melt v.3
ΚΠ
1623 G. Markham Countrey Contentments, or Eng. Huswife (new ed.) v. 210 This Art of making, or (as some terme it) melting of Malt.
This is a new entry (OED Third Edition, June 2001; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
meltingadj.adv.
/ˈmɛltɪŋ/, U.S. /ˈmɛltɪŋ/ A. adj.
I. That melts.
1.
a. That is in the process of melting, liquefying, or dissolving; (in Old English) †(of food) that undergoes digestion, digestible (obsolete); †able to be liquefied, fusible (obsolete); †liquid, fluid (obsolete). Also: †decaying (obsolete), and in extended use.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > liquid > making or becoming liquid > action or process of melting > [adjective]
meltingeOE
fusilea1398
the world > matter > liquid > making or becoming liquid > action or process of melting > [adjective] > able to be melted
meltingeOE
moltenable1552
meltable1610
the world > health and disease > ill health > a disease > diseases of tissue > [adjective] > alteration of tissue > decomposition or destruction
corrosivec1400
melting1605
undermined1844
attritional1849
saprogenic1876
saprogenous1876
eOE Bald's Leechbk. (Royal) (1865) ii. xvi. 196 Þam ðe cealde wambe habbað þu scealt sellan wel meltende mettas scellihte fiscas, & culfrena briddas, hænne flæsc & gose fiþru.
lOE Canterbury Psalter xxi. 15 Factum est cor meum tanquam cera liquescens in medio ventris mei : min heorte his geworden swæ swæ meltende wex on middum mines innoþes.
a1382 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Bodl. 959) (1961) Lev. xi. 34 Al meltynge [L. liquens] þyng þat shal be dronke of eny vessel shal be vnclene.
a1398 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomaeus Anglicus De Proprietatibus Rerum (BL Add.) f. 196 Þe element and matiere of þe which alle meltynge metall is y-made.
1577 M. Hanmer tr. Bp. Eusebius in Aunc. Eccl. Hist. viii. xxii. 162 His whole bodie larded and distilled muche like vnto..meltinge waxe.
1605 1st Pt. Jeronimo sig. Fii Honord Funerall for thy melting course.
1607 B. Jonson Volpone i. i. sig. Bv You shall ha' some will swallow A melting heire, as glibly, as your Dutch Will pills of butter. View more context for this quotation
1632 W. Lyndesay in W. Lithgow Totall Disc. Trav. sig. B3 Memphis..Flank'd with old Piramides, and melting Nyle.
1697 J. Dryden tr. Virgil Æneis viii, in tr. Virgil Wks. 450 Whatever melting Metals can conspire, Or breathing Bellows, or the forming Fire, Is freely yours.
1733 B. Franklin in Pennsylvania Gaz. 19 July 1/1 How often have I seen it obliged to undergo the Indignities of a dirty Wench; to have melting Candles dropt on its naked Sides.
1799 tr. Laboratory (ed. 6) I. ii. 76 The whole is to be kept in a melting state for some minutes.
1839 C. Darwin in R. Fitzroy & C. Darwin Narr. Surv. Voy. H.M.S. Adventure & Beagle III. ix. 198 Though the stream was most insignificant in size, it would be difficult to account for its source, except from the melting snow on the Cordillera.
1874 T. Hardy Far from Madding Crowd I. vi. 71 As the wind blows the fire inwards, the portion in flames completely disappears like melting sugar, and the outline is lost to the eye.
1922 ‘R. Crompton’ Just—William x. 197 His heart in the midst of his body had been ever as melting wax.
1967 R. Dahl Charlie & Chocolate Factory i. 12 The air was scented with the heavy rich smell of melting chocolate!
1993 Canad. Geographic Mar. 33/1 Its sheltering coulees, spotted with white-rimmed alkali sloughs, began as drainage canals at the melting base of the Laurentide Ice Sheet.
b. Of foodstuffs (originally esp. of fruit): dissolving or disintegrating easily in the mouth; delicate, tender; sweet. Formerly also: spec. †(of a peach) having flesh that comes apart easily from the stone (cf. melter n. 2) (obsolete).
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > food > consistency of food > [adjective] > melting in mouth
melting1753
1753 Chambers's Cycl. Suppl. at Nectarine This is a very well flavoured nectarine, of a soft, melting juice, and parts from the stone.
1766 Compl. Farmer at Stock Summer peaches (commonly distinguished by the appellation of melting peaches).
1840 Penny Cycl. XVII. 345/2 The melting varieties of the peach do not possess that rich succulence which they acquire..under the more moderate summer heats of the climate of London or Paris.
1859 C. Darwin Origin of Species i. 37 No one would expect to raise a first-rate melting pear from the seed of the wild pear.
1866 S. E. Todd Bridgeman's Amer. Gardener's Assistant (rev. ed.) ii. 158 This fruit ranks among the best of Plums; its shape is round;..flesh melting.
1975 L. Perl Slumps, Grunts, & Snickerdoodles vi. 53 A grunt..might have earned its name from the grunts of satisfaction of those who spooned down its melting goodness.
1993 Taste Aug. 59/2 Go to Bryan's..for sweet flakes of fresh haddock in crunchy, melting batter, tawny Maris Pipers, and cups of scalding tea.
2. Yielding to strong or tender emotion; feeling or expressing tenderness, pity, †pain (obsolete), etc.; tearful. the melting mood: tearfulness.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > love > tenderness > [adjective]
nesheOE
softc1175
mild-hearteda1200
fleshlyc1384
tendera1400
fleshy1526
warm1526
tender-hearted1539
meltingc1565
nice-hearted1571
soft-hearted1571
effeminate1594
tenderful1901
the mind > emotion > compassion > [adjective] > moved by
meltingc1565
relenteda1586
relentful1598
edulcorate1819
c1565 T. Palmer Emblems: 200 Poosees (1988) cxlviii. 147 Smokinge sighes and flaming grones showes forthe his melting harte.
1594 W. Shakespeare Lucrece sig. I2 Each flowre moistned like a melting eye. View more context for this quotation
a1616 W. Shakespeare Julius Caesar (1623) ii. i. 121 To steele with valour The melting Spirits of women. View more context for this quotation
a1616 W. Shakespeare Othello (1622) v. ii. 358 Albeit vnused to the melting moode. View more context for this quotation
a1616 W. Shakespeare Henry IV, Pt. 2 (1623) iv. iii. 32 A Hand Open (as Day) for melting [1600 meeting] Charitie.
1658 R. Allestree Pract. Christian Graces; or, Whole Duty of Man xv. §3. 307 Our compassions are to be most melting towards them of all others.
1714 A. Pope Rape of Lock (new ed.) i. 5 What guards the Purity of melting Maids, In Courtly Balls, and Midnight Masquerades?
1749 H. Fielding Tom Jones II. v. vii. 177 Even the philosopher Square wiped his Eyes, albeit unused to the melting Mood . View more context for this quotation
1826 J. F. Cooper Last of Mohicans I. ix. 123 Alice..bent her melting eyes on the pallid features of Gamut, with an expression of chastened delight that, she neither affected nor wished to conceal.
1876 H. James Roderick Hudson ii. 74 Rowland soon perceived that the poor little lady was in the melting mood.
1879 J. A. Froude Cæsar viii. 72 He was a high-spirited ornamental youth, with soft melting eyes.
1946 P. G. Wodehouse Joy in Morning xxv. 229 As soon as he is in a melting mood, you give me the high sign, and I carry on from there.
1988 M. Warner Lost Father vi. 52 They make me feel so funny, melting, so warm inside.
3. Of sound, form, colour, etc.: soft and liquid; delicately modulated.Sometimes with suggestion of sense A. 4.
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > hearing and noise > degree, kind, or quality of sound > pleasantness of sound > [adjective] > gentle or not harsh
smalleOE
softc1230
gentle1548
softly1576
melting1585
mellow1650
dulcified1684
tender1709
silken1785
smooth1836
velvety1896
1585 tr. P. de La Ramée Lat. Gram. i. i. 6 q Doth follow c altogeather with the same sound, but is onely used before u, the melting vowell, when an other vowell followeth.
1602 T. Campion Obseruations Art Eng. Poesie x. 39 When silent and melting consonants meete together, as ădrēst, rĕdrēst, ŏprēst..and such like.
1626 F. Bacon Sylua Syluarum §223 No Instrument hath the Sound so Melting and prolonged as the Irish Harp.
1645 J. Milton L'Allegro in Poems 36 The melting voice through mazes running.
1687 J. Norris Coll. Misc. 89 Soft melting strains of Music.
1714 J. Gay Fan ii. 14 And thus in melting sounds her speech began.
a1761 J. Cawthorn Poems (1771) 37 That step, whose motion seems to swim, That melting harmony of limb.
1769 T. Gray Ode at Installation Duke of Grafton 63 Sweet music's melting fall.
1849 J. Ruskin Seven Lamps Archit. iv. 129 The most exquisite harmonies..soft and full, of flushed and melting spaces of colour.
1885 G. Allen Babylon I. v. 92 Her pretty, melting native dialect.
1909 L. M. Montgomery Anne of Avonlea xix. 220 He must be very tall and distinguished looking, with melancholy, inscrutable eyes, and a melting, sympathetic voice.
1946 D. C. Peattie Road of Naturalist (U.K. ed.) iv. 43 The green was pine forest, and blue was mountains and dreamy melting distance.
1986 Artnews Oct. 30/3 The color in #2—melting hues of magenta, Indian red, purple, pale blue and deep blue—is sensuous and romantic, tantalizing the eye.
II. That causes melting.
4. That softens the heart; deeply touching or affecting.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > compassion > quality of exciting pity > [adjective]
armlyeOE
unseelyOE
rulyOE
ruefulc1225
ruthfulc1225
sorryc1225
piteousc1300
poorc1300
ruthlyc1300
pietousa1393
pitifulc1450
lamentablec1460
miserable?a1475
pitiablec1475
execrable1490
plainful1555
tristsum1567
passionatea1586
touchinga1586
pathetic1591
melting1593
remorseful?1615
compassionate1630
compassionable1635
ruesome1833
po'1866
little-boy-lost1957
the mind > emotion > love > tenderness > [adjective] > that softens the heart
melting1593
the mind > emotion > aspects of emotion > capacity for emotion > sensitiveness or tenderness > [adjective] > making sensitive or tender
melting1593
softening1600
sensitizing1852
toning1891
the world > action or operation > behaviour > good behaviour > kindness > gentleness or mildness > [adjective] > making
melting1593
mollifying1713
1593 G. Harvey New Let. Notable Contents sig. Dv Happy..that inspired Heraclitus, that powreth-out the most-tender affectionate Teares of Christ, with the flowing eyes of Zeale, and the melting eloquence of his bowells.
1598 J. Marston Scourge of Villanie ii. vi. sig. E6v Think'st thou, that I in melting poesie Will pamper itching sensualitie?
1656 J. Owen Of Mortification of Sinne 193 Gods peace is humbling peace, melting peace.
1695 J. Edwards Disc. conc. Old & New-Test. III. x. 439 The Charms of a most Melting and Affectionate Rhetorick.
1720 A. Pope tr. Homer Iliad V. xxi. 83 While thus these melting Words attempt his Heart.
1739 Joe Miller's Jests No. 118 A melting Sermon being preach'd in a Country Church.
1826 E. Irving Babylon II. 409 When Jeremy the prophet poured over them his melting lamentations in vain.
1970 Daily Tel. 30 Oct. (Colour Suppl.) 19/2 That smile, a huge, sweet, melting smile, a whammy of an MRA smile,..which envelops just everybody.
1997 N.Y. Times 20 Aug. a21/5 Republicans are longing for another Ronald Reagan to ride in from the West with an affable manner and melting smile.
5. Originally: that melts or dissolves something. Later chiefly of the sun, weather, etc.: extremely hot; causing perspiration.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > liquid > making or becoming liquid > [adjective] > having effect or property of liquefying
dissolutivec1400
dissolvative1577
melting1611
dissolving1620
dissolvent1665
liquefactive1877
dissolutory1925
liquefacient-
1611 Bible (King James) Isa. lxiv. 2 As when the melting fire burneth, the fire causeth the waters to boyle. View more context for this quotation
1839 C. M. Kirkland New Home xxxv. 240 How do you manage to get out in such melting weather?
1872 ‘M. Twain’ Roughing It lxxiii. 526 It did not take many minutes to discover that the sun was blazing like a bonfire, and that the weather was of a melting temperature.
1997 Fresno (Calif.) Bee (Nexis) 11 Jan. g3 Blinds blank out my view all day because of the melting sun.
So as to melt; at melting point. Obsolete. rare.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > liquid > making or becoming liquid > action or process of melting > [adverb]
meltinga1398
meltinglya1586
moltenly1859
a1398 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomaeus Anglicus De Proprietatibus Rerum (BL Add.) f. 207v Glas..is most pliaunt while it is meltynge hoote and neisshe and most brotil whanne it is cold and harde.
1582 S. Batman Vppon Bartholome, De Proprietatibus Rerum xvi. c. 269/2 And all maner glasse hath this property, that it is most pliant, while it is melting hot and softe.
1652 H. Lawes Sel. Mus. Ayres & Dial. 10 This day her love is melting hot, to morrow swears she knows you not.
Compounds
C1. † melting-hearted adj. Obsolete† melting-heartedness n. Obsolete
ΚΠ
1593 T. Nashe Christs Teares 31 Exclayming, for some melting-harted man, to come and rydde them out of theyr lingring-lyuing death.
1637 S. Rutherford Let. in Joshua Redivivus (1664) ccviii. 401 Christ's love..must be a rueing, a pitifull, a melting-hearted love.
ΚΠ
1647 J. Trapp Comm. Epist. & Rev. (1 Cor. xi. 11) There must be all mutuall respects and melting-heartednesse betwixt married couples.
C2.
melting moment n. any of various kinds of soft, light shortbread biscuit; usually in plural.
ΚΠ
1946 F. M. McNeill Recipes from Scotl. 80 Melting Moments... These make delicious little afternoon tea-cakes.
1967 Coast to Coast 1965–6 176 Melting Moments!... Half-spheres of crunchy, pale, sweet biscuit clamped together with icing.
1989 Courier-Mail (Brisbane) 3 May 37/2 We paused at the local shops to lay in provisions..a dozen pieces of caramel fudge, a vanilla slice and a half-dozen enormous shortbread biscuits known as melting moments.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2001; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.1eOE
n.21623adj.adv.eOE