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enamel

noun, verb — 8 senses

enamel

noun

US, UK /ɪˈnæməl/

Etymology From Middle English enamel, from Anglo-Norman enamailler, from en- (“in-”) + amailler (“to enamel”), variant of Old French esmailler (“to enamel”), from esmal (“enamel”), from Early Medieval Latin smaltum, from Frankish *smalt, from Proto-Germanic *smeltaną (“to melt, smelt”).

1

An opaque, glassy coating baked onto metal or ceramic objects.

2

A coating that dries to a hard, glossy finish.

  • Against the fence, in a line, were six chipped-enamel slop jars holding brilliant red geraniums, cared for as tenderly as if they belonged to Miss Maudie Atkinson1960 July 11, Harper Lee, To Kill a Mockingbird, Philadelphia, Pa.; New York, N.Y.: J[oshua] B[allinger] Lippincott Company, →OCLC:
3

The hard covering on the exposed part of a tooth.

4

A cosmetic intended to give the appearance of a smooth and beautiful complexion.

Derived terms
cementoenamel, cervical enamel, cervicoenamel, counterenamel, dentinoenamel, enameler, enamelin, enamelist, enameller, enamelless, enameloma, enameloplasty, enamel paper, enamelware, enamelwork, enamelworker, enamelworks, nail enamel, paper enamel, porcelain enamel, stove enamel, tooth enamel, vitreous enamel

enamel

verb

Etymology From Middle English enamelen, from the noun (see above).

1

To coat or decorate with enamel.

  • Their plumed helmes are wrought with beaten golde, Their ſwords enameld, and about their neckes Hangs maſſie chaines of golde downe to the waſte, In euery part exceding braue and rich.c. 1587–1588 (date written), [Christopher Marlowe], Tamburlaine the Great. […] The First Part […], 2nd edition, part 1, London: […] [R. Robinson for] Richard Iones, […], published 1592, →OCLC; reprinted as Tamburlaine the Great (A Scolar Press Facsimile), Menston, Yorkshire; London: Scolar Press, 1973, →ISBN, Act I, scene ii:
2

To variegate with colours, as if with enamel.

  • Oft he [the serpent] bowed / His turret crest and sleek enamelled neck.1667, John Milton, “Book IX”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert Boulter […]; [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], →OCLC; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873, →OCLC:
3

To form a glossy surface like enamel upon.

  • to enamel card paper; to enamel leather or cloth
4

To disguise with cosmetics, as a woman's complexion.

Entry derived from the Wiktionary, under licence CC BY-SA 4.0 — list of authors.

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