What does melted mean?
Melted is the past tense and past participle of melt and is also used as an adjective. In its literal sense, it describes something that has been changed into a liquid or made fluid by heat: melted butter, melted chocolate, or melted metal. The word can also convey emotional softening, as in a person whose stern expression melted into a smile, or in the phrase 'a melted heart.' In another figurative use, money, time, or resources can seem to melt away gradually. The adjective melted often focuses on the result of heating, whereas molten is especially common before nouns such as metal, lava, and rock. Melted is standard in British and American English and works in both formal and informal contexts, though figurative uses often carry a warm or sympathetic connotation.
Made liquid or fluid by heat; softened or tender.
"The melted cheese formed a smooth layer over the dish."
The past tense and past participle of melt: to become liquid through heat, or to be dissolved or consumed gradually.
"Ice melted slowly in the warm sun."
From Old English meltan to modern English, melted has moved far beyond the melting of ice: it can describe butter, metals, emotions, and even a heart yielding to compassion.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does melted come from?
The verb comes from Old English meltan, meaning 'to liquefy' or 'to become liquid,' and ultimately from a Germanic root associated with heat and liquefaction. It has relatives in other Germanic languages, including Dutch smelten and German schmelzen. The English forms melt, melts, melting, and melted developed through regular Old and Middle English inflectional changes.
Related word forms
How melted is actually used
As an adjective, melted is common in everyday speech and is often used for butter, cheese, chocolate, and metal. The figurative sense is emotionally expressive but still standard. As a verb form, it is used in the simple past and past participle.
Easily confused with melted
Melted describes something that has become liquid, while molten commonly describes a substance that is liquid because of heat, especially molten metal or rock.
Melted applies broadly to becoming liquid through heat, whereas thawed usually refers specifically to something frozen that has begun to lose its frozen state.