schmelzen

Hello, you have come here looking for the meaning of the word schmelzen. In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word schmelzen, but we will also tell you about its etymology, its characteristics and you will know how to say schmelzen in singular and plural. Everything you need to know about the word schmelzen you have here. The definition of the word schmelzen will help you to be more precise and correct when speaking or writing your texts. Knowing the definition ofschmelzen, as well as those of other words, enriches your vocabulary and provides you with more and better linguistic resources.
See also: Schmelzen

German

Alternative forms

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ˈʃmɛltsn̩/, /ˈʃmɛltsən/
  • (file)

Etymology 1

From Middle High German smelzen, from Old High German smelzan, from Proto-West Germanic *smeltan.

Akin to Old Saxon smeltan. Cognate with English smelt, Danish smelte, Dutch smelten, German Low German smölten. Through the meaning of soften: compare Old Church Slavonic младъ (mladŭ) (whence младость (mladostĭ, softness)), Latin mollis (soft).

Verb

schmelzen (class 3 strong, third-person singular present schmilzt, past tense schmolz, past participle geschmolzen, past subjunctive schmölze, auxiliary haben or sein)

  1. (intransitive, auxiliary sein) to melt; to liquefy
  2. (intransitive, figuratively, auxiliary sein) to dwindle; to melt away
  3. (transitive, auxiliary haben) to melt; to liquefy
Usage notes
  • Transitive use is less common and is historically derived from confusion with the following weak verb; in contemporary language, schmelzen lassen (literally make melt) is preferred instead.
Conjugation
Derived terms
Related terms

Etymology 2

Causative of the previous verb.

Verb

schmelzen (weak, third-person singular present schmelzt, past tense schmelzte, past participle geschmelzt, auxiliary haben)

  1. (transitive) to melt; to liquefy
    • 1781, Die Räuber, Schiller, act 3 scene 2:
      ihr Anblick schmelzte die Vorurteile des Adels hinweg.
      The sight of her melted away all the prejudices kept by the nobility
  2. (transitive, metallurgy) to smelt; to fuse
Usage notes

Often replaced by the previous strong verb, particularly in the past and perfect tense.

Conjugation

Further reading

  • schmelzen” in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache
  • schmelzen” in Uni Leipzig: Wortschatz-Lexikon
  • schmelzen” in Duden online
  • schmelzen” in OpenThesaurus.de