smalto

See also: smaltò

English

Etymology

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

Noun

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

• Altoms, almost, stomal

Italian

Pronunciation

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

Etymology 1

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

Noun

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

• smaltare

Descendants

• → Czech: smalt
• → English: smalto
• → Russian: сма́льта (smálʹta)
• → Sardinian: ismaltu (probably)

Etymology 2

Verb

smalto

1. first-person singular present indicative of smaltare

Further reading

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