• Mantle

    Pronunciation

    • UK IPA: /ˈmantl/
    • US IPA: /ˈmæn.tÉ™l/
    • Rhymes: -æntÉ™l
    • Homophones: mantel

    Origin

    Old English mentel ("sleeveless cloak"), later reborrowed from Anglo-Norman mantel from Latin mantēllum ("covering, cloak"), diminutive of mantum, probably from Gaulish.

    Full definition of mantle

    Noun

    mantle

    (plural mantles)
    1. A piece of clothing somewhat like an open robe or cloak, especially that worn by Orthodox bishops. Compare mantum. from 9th c.
    2. (figuratively) A figurative garment representing authority or status, capable of affording protection.At the meeting, she finally assumed the mantle of leadership of the party.The movement strove to put women under the protective mantle of civil rights laws.
    3. (figuratively) Anything that covers or conceals something else; a cloak. from 9th c.
    4. (zoology) The body wall of a mollusc, from which the shell is secreted. from 15th c.
      • 1990, Daniel L. Gilbert, William J. Adelman, John M. Arnold (editors), Squid as Experimental Animals, page 71 (where there is an illustration):Before copulation in Loligo, the male swims beside and slightly below about his potential mate and flashes his chromatophores. He grasps the female from slightly below about the mid-mantle region and positions himself so his arms are close to the opening of her mantle. He then reaches into his mantle with his hectocotylus and picks up several spermatophores from his penis.
    5. (zoology) The back of a bird together with the folded wings.
    6. The zone of hot gases around a flame; the gauzy incandescent covering of a gas lamp. from 19th c.
    7. The outer wall and casing of a blast furnace, above the hearth.
    8. A penstock for a water wheel.
    9. (anatomy) The cerebral cortex. from 19th c.
    10. (geology) The layer between the Earth's core and crust. from 20th c.
    11. A fireplace shelf; Alternative spelling of mantel
    12. (heraldry) A mantling.

    Derived terms

    Verb

    1. (transitive) To cover or conceal (something); to cloak; to disguise.
    2. (intransitive) To become covered or concealed.
    3. (of face, cheeks) To flush.
      • 1913, D. H. Lawrence, ,The blood still mantled below her ears; she bent her head in shame of her humility.

    Anagrams

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