anneal

C2+ Topic:Actions & Processes

US /əˈnil/ UK /əˈniːl/ See IPA manual

Meanings

1

verb
to heat metal or glass and cool it slowly to toughen and reduce brittleness

The smith annealed the blade so it would flex rather than shatter.

Verb forms

Verb forms are not available for this word yet.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 verb · to heat metal or glass and... tempertoughenharden strengthen fuse

Opposites

weaken soften

Word family

Derived forms annealerannealing

Etymology

From Middle English anelen, from Old English onaelan ('to set on fire, kindle'), from on- ('on') + aelan ('to burn, bake'), from al ('fire, burning').

onaelan Old English aelan Old English

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Actions & Processes Word Formation & Derivatives

External links

# anneal

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2+
**Part of speech:** verb
**IPA (US):** /əˈnil/
**IPA (UK):** /əˈniːl/

## Meanings
1. to heat metal or glass and cool it slowly to toughen and reduce brittleness

## Examples
- The smith annealed the blade so it would flex rather than shatter.

## Synonyms
- temper
- toughen
- harden
- strengthen
- fuse

## Antonyms
- weaken
- soften

## Derived Forms
- annealer
- annealing

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: onaelan
- Root: aelan

## Etymology
From Middle English anelen, from Old English onaelan ('to set on fire, kindle'), from on- ('on') + aelan ('to burn, bake'), from al ('fire, burning').

## AI Etymology
anneal comes from Middle English anelen, from Old English onaelan ('to set on fire, kindle'), from on- ('on') + aelan ('to burn, bake'), from al ('fire, burning'). Morphologically, the word is transparent as a compound: its parts remain visible in the modern spelling, while the older history of those parts supplies the deeper ancestry. In modern use, the verb sense is "to heat metal or glass and cool it slowly to toughen and reduce brittleness", which keeps the etymology connected to the word's present dictionary value rather than treating it as a merely historical label. The wider word family includes derivatives such as annealer, annealing, showing how the same base continues to support neighboring English vocabulary. The principal historical forms in the chain include Old English onaelan, Old English aelan, which anchor the explanation in named linguistic material.

## Topics
- Actions & Processes
- Word Formation & Derivatives

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