See also: Schmelzen

German

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Alternative forms

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Pronunciation

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

Etymology 1

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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

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

  1. (intransitive) to melt; to liquefy [auxiliary sein]
  2. (intransitive, figuratively) to dwindle; to melt away [auxiliary sein]
  3. (transitive) to melt; to liquefy [auxiliary haben]
Usage notes
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  • 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
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Derived terms
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Etymology 2

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Causative of the previous verb.

Verb

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

Conjugation
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Further reading

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