meld

English

WOTD – 27 May 2023

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation, General American) IPA^(key): /mɛld/

• Audio (Southern England)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɛld

Etymology 1

The verb is probably derived:

• from a blend of melt +‎ weld; or
• from melled (“blended; mingled”), the past participle of mell.

The noun is derived from the verb.

Compare also melting pot.

Verb

meld (third-person singular simple present melds, present participle melding, simple past and past participle melded) (originally US)

1. (transitive) To combine (multiple things) together; to blend, to fuse. [from early 20th c.]

   Synonyms: conflate, merge

   One can meld copper and zinc together to form brass.

   • 2018 June 5, Michael Wines, “Song awakens injured pride of Afrikaners”, in The New York Times‎^[1], New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2023-02-02:

     Much as America's motto celebrates melding many into one, South Africa's says that it doesn't matter what you look like – we can all be proud of our young country.

2. (intransitive) To combine, to blend, to fuse.

Derived terms

• melded (adjective)
• melder
• melding (noun)
• mindmeld

Related terms

• meldometer (historical)
• melt
• weld

Translations

to combine (multiple things) together — see also blend,‎ fuse

• Bulgarian: смесвам (bg) (smesvam)
• Dutch: samensmelten (nl), versmelten (nl)
• Finnish: sulauttaa, yhdistää (fi)
• Galician: please add this translation if you can
• Macedonian: спо́и (spói), ме́ша (méša), сто́пи (stópi)

to combine, to blend, to fuse — see combine,‎ blend,‎ fuse

Noun

meld (plural melds)

1. (originally US) The result of multiple things being combined together; a blend. [from late 20th c.]

   Synonym: combination

Derived terms

• mind meld

Translations

result of multiple things being combined together — see blend

Etymology 2

Three melds (etymology 2, noun sense) played in a game of gin rummy.

The verb is probably borrowed from Dutch melden (“to announce; to let (someone) know, report; (specifically) to declare in a card game”), ultimately from Proto-West Germanic *melþōn (“to announce, declare; to inform”), and Proto-Indo-European *meldʰ- (“to ask; to pray; to speak”).

The noun is derived from the verb.

cognates

• Dutch melden
• Old English meldian (“to announce, declare; to inform, notify”) (Middle English melden (“to accuse, inform against; to announce, declare”))

Verb

meld (third-person singular simple present melds, present participle melding, simple past and past participle melded) (card games)

1. Especially in games of the rummy family: [from late 19th c.]
   1. (transitive) To announce or play (a combination of playing cards) and thus score points.
   2. (intransitive) To announce or play a combination of playing cards and thus score points.

Translations

(transitive) to announce or play (a combination of cards); (intransitive) to announce or play a combination of playing cards

• Bulgarian: свалям (bg) (svaljam)
• Finnish: pöydätä (fi)
• Galician: please add this translation if you can
• Macedonian: please add this translation if you can

Noun

meld (plural melds)

1. (card games) Especially in games of the rummy family: a combination of playing cards which is announced or played to score points. [from late 19th c.]
   • 1914 February, Sinclair Lewis, “He is Blown by the Whirlwind”, in Our Mr. Wrenn: The Romantic Adventures of a Gentle Man, New York, N.Y.: Grosset & Dunlap, →OCLC, page 231:

     The realization that Istra was in the room made him forget most of his melds at pinochle; […]

Translations

combination of playing cards announced or played to score points

• Burmese: အထွေ (my) (a.htwe)
• Finnish: pöytäys
• Galician: please add this translation if you can
• Macedonian: please add this translation if you can

Further reading

• meld (cards) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• meld (disambiguation) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

Danish

Verb

meld

1. imperative of melde

Dutch

Pronunciation

• Audio

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɛlt

Verb

meld

1. inflection of melden:
   1. first-person singular present indicative
   2. imperative

German

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /mɛlt/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɛlt
• Hyphenation: meld

Verb

meld

1. singular imperative of melden

Norwegian Bokmål

Verb

meld

1. imperative of melde

Norwegian Nynorsk

Etymology 1

From Old Norse meldr.

Alternative forms

• melder m

Noun

meld m (definite singular melden, indefinite plural meldar, definite plural meldane)

1. grinding, crushing
2. an amount of grain that is to be milled
3. an amount of flour that returns from the mill

Related terms

• mala, male (to grind, crush)
• mjøl n

Etymology 2

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Participle

meld (neuter singular meldt, definite singular and plural melde)

1. past participle of melde

Verb

meld

1. imperative of melda and melde

References

• “meld” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.