smalto

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See also: smaltò

English

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Etymology

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Borrowed from Italian smalto. Doublet of schmaltz, email, and smalt.

Noun

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smalto (plural smalti)

  1. A piece of coloured glass used in mosaic.
    • 1848, The Yearbook of Facts in Science and Art[1], Simpkin, Marshall, and Company, page 86:
      This is done by striking the smalto with a sharp-edged hammer, directly over a similar edge, placed vertically beneath.
    • 1857, “The applications of improved machinery and materials to art-manufacture”, in The Art Journal[2], page 112:
      The smalto is thus broken as far as possible into the form desired, and it is afterwards ground with emery powder upon a lead wheel until the precise size and form are obtained.
    • 2005, Reham Aarti Jacobsen, Mosaics for the First Time[3], page 38:
      Press the smalti into the adhesive in a rainbow pattern along the frame, with as small a gap as possible between the pieces.

Anagrams

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Italian

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Pronunciation

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  • IPA(key): /ˈzmal.to/
  • Rhymes: -alto
  • Hyphenation: smàl‧to

Etymology 1

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Ultimately from Medieval Latin smaltum, likely via some Gallo-Romance language (in particular Old Occitan esmalt).

Noun

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smalto m (plural smalti)

  1. enamel (all senses)
  2. glaze
  3. (heraldry) tincture
    Gli cinque smalti dell'araldica sono rosso, azzurro, nero, verde e porpora
    (please add an English translation of this usage example)
Derived terms
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Descendants
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  • Czech: smalt
  • English: smalto
  • Russian: сма́льта (smálʹta)
  • Sardinian: ismaltu (probably)

Etymology 2

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Verb

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smalto

  1. first-person singular present indicative of smaltare

Further reading

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  • smalto in Treccani.it – Vocabolario Treccani on line, Istituto dell'Enciclopedia Italiana