Metal is a type of solid material, like iron or gold, that is usually shiny, can conduct heat and electricity, and can be shaped without breaking. Metals are used to build structures, tools, machines, and electronics.
From Latin ‘metallum,’ meaning ‘mine’ or ‘metal,’ which came through Old French into English. Earlier, the Greek word ‘metallon’ referred to a mine or quarry and then to what was taken from it.
The word for ‘metal’ originally meant the place you dig it out of, not the shiny stuff itself. Many everyday objects you think of as metal—like coins or wires—are actually carefully designed metal mixtures called alloys.
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