schmelzen

Definition & meaning

schmelzen means to melt: to change from a solid into a liquid, usually because of heat. It can also mean to melt or smelt a material, especially metal or ore.

• Intransitive: something melts or thaws. Das Eis schmilzt means “The ice is melting.”
• Transitive: someone melts something. Sie schmilzt das Wachs means “She melts the wax.”
• Figurative: a person’s resistance or severity softens, as in Sein Herz schmilzt (“His heart melts”).

Grammar & Word origin

schmelzen is a strong (irregular) verb. Its principal forms are schmilzt (present, third-person singular), schmolz (simple past), and geschmolzen (past participle).

As an intransitive verb describing something melting, it generally takes sein in the perfect: Das Eis ist geschmolzen. When someone melts something, it takes haben: Sie hat das Wachs geschmolzen.

The verb comes from Old High German smelzan. It has no productive parts in modern German.

Synonyms & antonyms

Synonyms vary by context:

• tauen↗ means “to thaw,” and is most often used for ice, snow, or frozen ground. It emphasizes warming after freezing.
• zergehen↗ can mean “to melt away” or “to dissolve,” and is often used for food that melts in the mouth.
• verflüssigen↗ means “to liquefy.” It is more technical and emphasizes the result of becoming liquid.
• einschmelzen↗ means “to melt down,” often to reuse or process a material.

Possible antonyms include:

• gefrieren↗ — “to freeze,” the opposite change of state.
• erstarren↗ — “to solidify” or “to harden,” often describing a liquid becoming solid.

Common phrases & collocations

• Eis schmilzt↗ — ice melts.
• Schnee schmilzt↗ — snow melts.
• Wachs schmelzen↗ — to melt wax.
• Metall schmelzen↗ — to melt metal.
• Das Herz schmilzt↗ — someone’s heart melts; a figurative expression for becoming tender or sympathetic.