schmelzen

See also: Schmelzen

German

Alternative forms

  • schmilzen (colloquial only, nonstandard)

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

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
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