Metal and Mettle Are the Same Word
Metal is a hard shiny material that conducts heat. The word mettle, meaning courage, is simply a different spelling of it.
Metal is a material that is typically hard, shiny and a good conductor of heat and electricity. *Mettle*, meaning courage or spirit, is the same word: English used one spelling for both senses until the 1700s, when the figurative use — a person's quality, like the quality of a metal — was given its own form. Testing someone's mettle is testing what they are made of. Metals are also defined chemically by their tendency to lose electrons and form positive ions.
- A conductive material. *A metal frame.*
- Mettle — courage. *Prove your mettle.*
- A music genre. *Heavy metal.*
- Metallic — of metal. *A metallic taste.*
- Alloy — a mixture of metals. *An alloy.*
Word forms
| Form | Word | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Noun | metal | Scrap metal. |
| Plural | metals | Precious metals. |
| Adjective | metallic | Metallic paint. |
| Doublet | mettle | Test his mettle. |
| Greek | metallon | A mine, a metal. |
- The frame is made of metal.Material.
- The crisis tested their mettle.Courage.
- The two spellings split in the 1700s.History.
What makes something a metal
- Conducts heat and electricity well
- Malleable and ductile — can be hammered and drawn out
- Lustrous — reflects light when polished
- Loses electrons readily to form positive ions
- Mercury is liquid at room temperature and is still a metal
Greek *metallon*, a mine or metal, through Latin and Old French. *Mettle* is a variant spelling that specialised in the figurative sense.
Are metal and mettle the same word?
Yes. They were one word until the 1700s, when the figurative sense of quality or courage took the separate spelling.
Is mercury a metal?
Yes, despite being liquid at room temperature. It conducts electricity and forms positive ions like other metals.