# melt

> English word · Verb · IPA /mɛlt/ · frequency rank #7,582

## Definitions
1. To change (or to be changed) from a solid state to a liquid state, usually by a gradual heat.
2. To dissolve, disperse, vanish.
3. To soften, as by a warming or kindly influence; to relax; to render gentle or susceptible to mild influences; sometimes, in a bad sense, to take away the firmness of; to weaken.
4. To be discouraged.
5. To be emotionally softened or touched.
6. To be very hot and sweat profusely.

## Etymology
From Middle English melten, from a merger of Old English meltan (intransitive) and mieltan (transitive), both meaning “to melt, digest,” from Proto-West Germanic *meltan and *maltijan, from Proto-Germanic *meltaną and *maltijaną, both from Proto-Indo-European *(s)meld- (“melt”). Cognate with Icelandic melta (“to digest”).

## Easily confused with
- **MT** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/melt-vs-mt)
- **ML** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/melt-vs-ml)
- **men** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/melt-vs-men)
- **met** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/melt-vs-met)
- **MLB** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/melt-vs-mlb)
- **mil** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/melt-vs-mil)
- **mit** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/melt-vs-mit)
- **MLA** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/melt-vs-mla)
- **mer** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/melt-vs-mer)
- **mol** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/melt-vs-mol)
- **MLM** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/melt-vs-mlm)
- **mot** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/melt-vs-mot)
- **MEP** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/melt-vs-mep)
- **mes** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/melt-vs-mes)
- **mew** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/melt-vs-mew)
- **mex** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/melt-vs-mex)
- **MLK** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/melt-vs-mlk)
- **mem** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/melt-vs-mem)
- **MST** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/melt-vs-mst)
- **MRT** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/melt-vs-mrt)

## Common misspellings (6)
`emlt`, `mellt`, `meltt`, `metl`, `mlet`, `mmelt`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/melt