enamel

C2 Topic:General Vocabulary

US /ɪˈnæməl/ UK /ɪˈnæməl/ See IPA manual

Freq #32568

Meanings

1

noun
the hard, white outer covering of the crown of a tooth

Acidic drinks can gradually damage tooth enamel.
2

noun
a glassy decorative or protective coating fused onto metal, glass, or pottery

The copper bowl was decorated with blue enamel.
3

noun
a paint that dries to form a hard, smooth, glossy surface

They coated the cabinet with white enamel.
4

verb
to coat, decorate, or protect a surface with enamel

The artisan enamelled the silver pendant in vivid green.

Verb forms

Verb forms are not available for this word yet.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 noun · the hard, white outer... tooth enamel

2 noun · a glassy decorative or... glaze

3 noun · a paint that dries to form... enamel paintgloss paint

4 verb · to coat, decorate, or... glaze coat

More coating

Word family

Forms enamelled

Derived forms enamelerenamellerenamelistenamelware

Related forms glazesmaltsmelt

Appears in

Phrases (1)

See all

tooth enamel
the hard outer layer covering the visible part of a tooth

Noun + noun

Etymology

From Middle English enamel and Anglo-Norman enamailler, related to Old French esmailler, 'to enamel.' The French forms derive from esmal, 'enamel,' through Medieval Latin smaltum from a Germanic root meaning 'to melt or smelt,' reflecting how glassy enamel is fused by heat.

Topics

General Vocabulary

External links

# enamel

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2
**Part of speech:** noun, verb
**IPA (US):** /ɪˈnæməl/
**IPA (UK):** /ɪˈnæməl/
**Frequency rank:** 32568

## Meanings
1. the hard, white outer covering of the crown of a tooth
2. a glassy decorative or protective coating fused onto metal, glass, or pottery
3. a paint that dries to form a hard, smooth, glossy surface
4. to coat, decorate, or protect a surface with enamel

## Examples
- Acidic drinks can gradually damage tooth enamel.
- The copper bowl was decorated with blue enamel.
- They coated the cabinet with white enamel.
- The artisan enamelled the silver pendant in vivid green.

## Synonyms
- glaze
- coating
- gloss paint

## Derived Forms
- enameler
- enameller
- enamelist
- enamelware

## Related Forms
- glaze
- smalt
- smelt

## Etymology
From Middle English enamel and Anglo-Norman enamailler, related to Old French esmailler, 'to enamel.' The French forms derive from esmal, 'enamel,' through Medieval Latin smaltum from a Germanic root meaning 'to melt or smelt,' reflecting how glassy enamel is fused by heat.

## Topics
- General Vocabulary

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