Malleate

Pronunciation

• (adjective) UK IPA: /ˈmæl.i.ɪt/, /ˈmæl.i.eɪt/
• (verb) UK IPA: /ˈmæl.i.eɪt/

Origin

From Latin malleātus, perfect passive participle of *malleō ("beat with a hammer"), related to malleus ("a hammer, mallet").

Full definition of malleate

Adjective

1. (zoology) Possessing or resembling a malleus, or another structure shaped like a hammer.
• 2009, James H. Thorp & Alan P. Covich (eds.), Ecology and Classification of North American Freshwater Invertebrates, 3rd ed., page 181Malleate trophi are present in such common rotifers as Brachionus, Keratella, and Lecane.
2. (malacology, of a shell) Having a surface with shallow round indentations, resembling copper that has been hammered.
• 1919, Henry Augustus Pilsbry, "A Review of the Land Mollusks of the Belgian Congo", Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 40: 313The spire has stronger rib-striæ than C. bequaerti; last whorl finely and closely malleate, with several weak spiral threads.

Verb

1. (rare) To beat into shape with a hammer.
• 1878, James Milleson, The Embryonic System of Nature, page 12Man is a mechanic, and works beautiful forms out of natural organisms. He cuts, bores, malleates, melts, casts in matrices, and spins, various articles.

Related terms

• malleability
• malleable
• malleableness
• malleably
• mallet