adj
Meaning 1
Spirited, vigorous, stout-hearted.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: Scotland
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
Standard Lemma guide
mettle
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.
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/ˈmɛtəl/
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Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
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rhymes with -ɛtəl
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homophone: metal
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homophone: medal (t-flapping)
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homophone: meddle (t-flapping)
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CMU ARPABET: M EH1 T AH0 L Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.
noun
Meaning 2
A quality of courage and endurance.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: uncountable, usually
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: heart, pith, spirit
Antonyms: none provided
noun
Meaning 3
Good temperament and character.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: uncountable, usually
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
noun
Meaning 4
Obsolete spelling of metal (“metallic substance”).
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: alt-of, obsolete, uncountable, usually
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
noun
Meaning 5
the courage to carry on
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
Examples
- he kept fighting on pure spunk
- you haven't got the heart for baseball
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: heart, nerve, spunk
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: courage, courageousness, bravery, braveness
History
Etymology
From figurative use of metal (since 16th century). The two spellings were originally interchangeable variants, but came to be distinguished by sense in the 18th century.
Across languages
Translations
40 source translations are retained for this English entry.
- Arabic: معدن — a quality of endurance and courage
- Bulgarian: кураж (kuraž) — a quality of endurance and courage
- Bulgarian: издръжливост (izdrǎžlivost) — a quality of endurance and courage
- Catalan: tremp — a quality of endurance and courage
- Catalan: fermesa — a quality of endurance and courage
- Chinese Mandarin: 膽魄 /胆魄 (dǎnpò) — a quality of endurance and courage
- Czech: odvaha — a quality of endurance and courage
- Czech: odhodlání — a quality of endurance and courage
- Czech: bojovnost — a quality of endurance and courage
- Dutch: moed — a quality of endurance and courage
- Faroese: mót — a quality of endurance and courage
- Faroese: treyst — a quality of endurance and courage
- Faroese: áræði — a quality of endurance and courage
- Faroese: ágrýtni — a quality of endurance and courage
- Finnish: lujahermoisuus — a quality of endurance and courage
- Finnish: rohkeus — a quality of endurance and courage
- French: prouesse — a quality of endurance and courage
- German: Mut — a quality of endurance and courage
- German: Eifer — a quality of endurance and courage
- German: Enthusiasmus — a quality of endurance and courage
- German: Stamina — a quality of endurance and courage
- Irish: miotal — a quality of endurance and courage
- Marathi: धैर्य (dhairya) — a quality of endurance and courage
- Plautdietsch: Iewa — a quality of endurance and courage
- Portuguese: firmeza — a quality of endurance and courage
- Russian: пыл (pyl) — a quality of endurance and courage
- Russian: рве́ние (rvénije) — a quality of endurance and courage
- Russian: выно́сливость (vynóslivostʹ) — a quality of endurance and courage
- Swedish: mod — a quality of endurance and courage
- Swedish: kurage — a quality of endurance and courage
- Turkish: azim — a quality of endurance and courage
- Bulgarian: характер (harakter) — good temperament and character
- Bulgarian: темперамент (temperament) — good temperament and character
- Catalan: fermesa — good temperament and character
- Dutch: temperament — good temperament and character
- Dutch: karakter — good temperament and character
- Finnish: sopuisuus — good temperament and character
- German: Feurigkeit — good temperament and character
- Swedish: karaktär — good temperament and character
- Swedish: eldighet — good temperament and character