Standard Lemma guide

malt

noun · verb · 15 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • UK: /mɒlt/
  • UK: /mɔːlt/
  • US: /mɔlt/
  • cot-caught-merger: /mɑlt/
  • US: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • rhymes with -ɒlt
  • rhymes with -ɔːlt
  • CMU ARPABET: M AO1 L T Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

noun

Meaning 1

Malted grain (sprouted grain) (usually barley), used in brewing and otherwise.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

Malt liquor, especially malt whisky.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

noun

Meaning 3

A milkshake with malted milk powder added for flavor.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: US, countable, informal, uncountable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: malted

Antonyms: none provided

4

noun

Meaning 4

Maltose-rich sugar derived from malted grain.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

5

noun

Meaning 5

Initialism of mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: abbreviation, alt-of, initialism, uncountable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

6

verb

Meaning 6

To convert a cereal grain into malt by causing it to sprout (by soaking in water) and then halting germination (by drying with hot air) in order to develop enzymes that can break down starches and proteins in the grain.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: transitive

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

7

verb

Meaning 7

To become malt.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: intransitive

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

8

verb

Meaning 8

To drink malt liquor.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: dated, humorous, intransitive

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

9

noun

Meaning 9

a cereal grain (usually barley) that is kiln-dried after having been germinated by soaking in water; used especially in brewing and distilling

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: grain, food grain, cereal

Narrower terms: wort

10

noun

Meaning 10

a lager of high alcohol content; by law it is considered too alcoholic to be sold as lager or beer

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: malt liquor

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: lager, lager beer

11

noun

Meaning 11

a milkshake made with malt powder

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: malted, malted milk

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: milkshake, milk shake, shake

12

verb

Meaning 12

convert into malt

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: convert

13

verb

Meaning 13

convert grain into malt

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: convert

14

verb

Meaning 14

turn into malt, become malt

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: convert

15

verb

Meaning 15

treat with malt or malt extract

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • malt beer

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: process, treat

History

Etymology

From Middle English malt, from Old English mealt, from Proto-West Germanic *malt, from Proto-Germanic *maltą (“malt”), from *maltaz (“soft; nesh; weak; squashy; melting”), from Proto-Indo-European *meld-, *mled- (“to crush; grind; make weak”). Cognate with Saterland Frisian Moalt (“malt”), Dutch mout (“malt”), German Malz (“malt”), Swedish malt (“malt”), Old Church Slavonic младъ (mladŭ, “tender; young”), Russian молодой (molodoj, “young; fresh; new”). The Proto-Germanic noun was borrowed into Proto-Slavic as *malta; compare Ukrainian мо́лот (mólot), Czech mláto. More at melt.

Across languages

Translations

78 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Arabic: مَلْت (malt) — sprouted grain used in brewing
  • Armenian: ածիկ (acik) — sprouted grain used in brewing
  • Bashkir: ҡур (qur) — sprouted grain used in brewing
  • Belarusian: со́лад (sólad) — sprouted grain used in brewing
  • Bulgarian: слад (slad) — sprouted grain used in brewing
  • Bulgarian: малц (malc) — sprouted grain used in brewing
  • Catalan: malt — sprouted grain used in brewing
  • Chinese Mandarin: 麥芽 /麦芽 (màiyá) — sprouted grain used in brewing
  • Czech: slad — sprouted grain used in brewing
  • Danish: malt — sprouted grain used in brewing
  • Dutch: mout — sprouted grain used in brewing
  • Estonian: linnas — sprouted grain used in brewing
  • Finnish: mallas — sprouted grain used in brewing
  • French: malt — sprouted grain used in brewing
  • Galician: malte — sprouted grain used in brewing
  • Georgian: ალაო (alao) — sprouted grain used in brewing
  • German: Malz — sprouted grain used in brewing
  • Greek: βύνη (výni) — sprouted grain used in brewing
  • Ancient Greek: βύνη (búnē) — sprouted grain used in brewing
  • Hebrew: לֶתֶת (létet) — sprouted grain used in brewing
  • Hungarian: maláta — sprouted grain used in brewing
  • Ingrian: mallas — sprouted grain used in brewing
  • Ingrian: iys — sprouted grain used in brewing
  • Irish: braich — sprouted grain used in brewing
  • Italian: malto — sprouted grain used in brewing
  • Japanese: 麦芽 (bakuga) — sprouted grain used in brewing
  • Kashubian: słód — sprouted grain used in brewing
  • Korean: 엿기름 (yeotgireum) — sprouted grain used in brewing
  • Korean: 보리길금 (borigilgeum) — sprouted grain used in brewing
  • Kyrgyz: угут (ugut) — sprouted grain used in brewing
  • Latvian: iesals — sprouted grain used in brewing
  • Lithuanian: salyklas — sprouted grain used in brewing
  • Macedonian: слад (slad) — sprouted grain used in brewing
  • Malay: malta — sprouted grain used in brewing
  • Māori: morota — sprouted grain used in brewing
  • Norwegian Bokmål: malt — sprouted grain used in brewing
  • Norwegian Nynorsk: malt — sprouted grain used in brewing
  • Old English: mealt — sprouted grain used in brewing
  • Persian: مالت (mâlt) — sprouted grain used in brewing
  • Polish: słód — sprouted grain used in brewing
  • Portuguese: malte — sprouted grain used in brewing
  • Russian: со́лод (sólod) — sprouted grain used in brewing
  • Serbo-Croatian: slȃd — sprouted grain used in brewing
  • Serbo-Croatian: слад — sprouted grain used in brewing
  • Slovak: slad — sprouted grain used in brewing
  • Slovene: slad — sprouted grain used in brewing
  • Southern Altai: уут (uut) — sprouted grain used in brewing
  • Spanish: malta — sprouted grain used in brewing
  • Swedish: malt — sprouted grain used in brewing
  • Tagalog: malta — sprouted grain used in brewing
  • Tajik: сумалак (sumalak) — sprouted grain used in brewing
  • Turkish: malt — sprouted grain used in brewing
  • Ukrainian: со́лод (sólod) — sprouted grain used in brewing
  • Uyghur: оғут (oghut) — sprouted grain used in brewing
  • Uzbek: sumalak — sprouted grain used in brewing
  • Vietnamese: mạch nha — sprouted grain used in brewing
  • Volapük: malt — sprouted grain used in brewing
  • Welsh: brag — sprouted grain used in brewing
  • Yoruba: bọ̀tí — sprouted grain used in brewing
  • Bulgarian: малцово уиски (malcovo uiski) — malt liquor
  • Finnish: mallasjuoma — malt liquor
  • Finnish: mallasviski — malt liquor
  • Finnish: mallastettu pirtelö — malted milkshake
  • Spanish: malteada — malted milkshake
  • Finnish: mallassokeri — maltose-rich sugar
  • Albanian: ndërroj — to convert grain into malt
  • Danish: malte — to convert grain into malt
  • Dutch: mouten — to convert grain into malt
  • Finnish: mallastaa — to convert grain into malt
  • French: malter — to convert grain into malt
  • German: mälzen — to convert grain into malt
  • Italian: maltare — to convert grain into malt
  • Norwegian Bokmål: malte — to convert grain into malt
  • Norwegian Nynorsk: malta — to convert grain into malt
  • Norwegian Nynorsk: malte — to convert grain into malt
  • Portuguese: maltar — to convert grain into malt
  • Swedish: mälta — to convert grain into malt
  • Volapük: maltön — to convert grain into malt