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smalto. In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word
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English
Etymology
Borrowed from Italian smalto. Doublet of schmaltz, email, and smalt.
Noun
smalto (plural smalti)
- A piece of coloured glass used in mosaic.
1848, The Yearbook of Facts in Science and Art, Simpkin, Marshall, and Company, page 86:This is done by striking the smalto with a sharp-edged hammer, directly over a similar edge, placed vertically beneath.
1857, “The applications of improved machinery and materials to art-manufacture”, in The Art Journal, page 112:The smalto is thus broken as far as possible into the form desired, and it is afterwards ground with emery powder upon a lead wheel until the precise size and form are obtained.
2005, Reham Aarti Jacobsen, Mosaics for the First Time, page 38:Press the smalti into the adhesive in a rainbow pattern along the frame, with as small a gap as possible between the pieces.
Anagrams
Italian
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ˈzmal.to/
- Rhymes: -alto
- Hyphenation: smàl‧to
Etymology 1
Ultimately from Medieval Latin smaltum, likely via some Gallo-Romance language (in particular Old Occitan esmalt).
Noun
smalto m (plural smalti)
- enamel (all senses)
- glaze
- (heraldry) tincture
Gli cinque smalti dell'araldica sono rosso, azzurro, nero, verde e porpora- (please add an English translation of this usage example)
Derived terms
Descendants
Etymology 2
Verb
smalto
- first-person singular present indicative of smaltare
Further reading
- smalto in Treccani.it – Vocabolario Treccani on line, Istituto dell'Enciclopedia Italiana