Where does “smelt” come from?

smelt (Middle English) comes from Old English smelt, from Proto-West Germanic *smelt, from Proto-Germanic smeltaz, from Proto-Germanic smeltaną, from Proto-Indo-European (s)meld- — to soften, to melt.

smelt (Middle English): smelt fish

Definitions

  1. smelt fish

Ancestry of “smelt”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Old Englishsmeltsmelt a fish
2Proto-West Germanic*smeltsmelt
3Proto-Germanicsmeltazsmelt
4Proto-Germanicsmeltanąto melt
5Proto-Indo-European(s)meld-to soften, to melt

Words derived from “smelt”

Every word from Proto-Indo-European (s)meld- →Every word from Proto-Germanic smeltaną →Every word from Proto-Germanic smeltaz →