Etymograph

English

melt

Melt comes from Middle English melten ‘to blend or fuse’, from Old English meltan ‘to melt’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *(s)meld-.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*(s)meld-1‘to soften, melt’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*meltaną1‘to dissolve, to melt’reconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*meltan1‘to dissolve, to melt’reconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150meltan1‘to melt’
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500melten2‘to blend or fuse’
  6. Englishearliest quotation c. 1605–1608melt2

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Middle English melten
  2. 2 Wiktionary, English melt
  3. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: c. 1605–1608, William Shakespeare, The Life of Tymon of Athens: “Thou would'st have […] melted down thy youth.”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*(s)meld-Wiktionary, Middle English melten‘to soften, melt’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*meltanąWiktionary, Middle English melten‘to dissolve, to melt’reconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*meltanWiktionary, Middle English melten‘to dissolve, to melt’reconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150meltanWiktionary, Middle English melten‘to melt’
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500meltenWiktionary, English melt‘to blend or fuse’
  6. Englishearliest quotation c. 1605–1608meltWiktionary, English melt. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: c. 1605–1608, William Shakespeare, The Life of Tymon of Athens: “Thou would'st have […] melted down thy youth.”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *(s)meld- ‘to soften, melt’

email, mojo, enamel, moll, mojito, milt, schmaltz, 19 more

through Proto-Germanic *meltaną ‘to dissolve, to melt’

molten, 2 more

through Old English meltan ‘to melt’

molt, 1 more

Today it means

verb To change (or to be changed) from a solid state to a liquid state, usually by a gradual heat.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “melt”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Middle English melten. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *(s)meld- / melt

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