smelt
n.n. a small, thin piece of metal that is used to make larger objects. It is the basic building block of things like copper or lead.
n. a small, thin, or irregular piece of metal, typically used as a raw material in the production of larger items. Often refers to the raw ore or the initial ingot before further processing.
The factory melted the smelt to create new copper wire.
The artisan carefully selected a piece of smelt from the pile to begin the casting process.
The ancient site yielded a significant quantity of smelt, suggesting that the community possessed the rudimentary technology to extract and refine metals from local ores.
From Middle English smelt, from Old English smelt, from Proto-Germanic *smeltaz.
From very early Middle English smel; likely to derive from Old English, but not recorded.
From Middle Dutch smelten (“to melt”) or Middle Low German smelten (“to melt”), from Old Dutch smeltan or Old Saxon smeltan, both from Proto-West Germanic smeltan, from Proto-Germanic *smeltaną (“to melt”). Related to English melt and Old English meltan (“to melt”). Cognate to Dutch smelten, German schmelzen.