molten

Everyday

1. Melted by great heat, about metal, rock or glass: molten lava. tree →
2. (cooking, informal) Soft and runny in the middle: a molten chocolate cake. tree →

In the lessons

In science lessons about volcanoes and the Earth: «molten rock» under the ground is magma, and when it comes out it is lava. In design and technology, molten metal is poured into moulds. In cooking, a «molten» pudding is gooey inside. Phrases: molten rock, molten lava, molten metal.

Examples

• Molten rock pours out of a volcano. tree →
• The Earth's outer core is made of molten iron. tree →
• Molten metal is poured into a mould. tree →
• The glassblower shaped the molten glass. tree →
• Be careful — molten wax is very hot! tree →
• The pudding had a molten chocolate centre. tree →
• Molten lava glowed red in the dark. tree →
• Under the roof were loopholes to shoot through, and to pour down boiling water or even molten lead on the enemy, should he approach. tree →

Note

Used for things that melt at very high temperatures (rock, metal, glass). For ice or butter, say «melted»: «melted butter», not «molten butter» (except in cooking jokes). «Molten» is an old form of «melted».

In Jewish tradition

It means made by melting metal and pouring it into a mold. A "molten god" or "molten image" is an idol cast from metal. It can also mean simply melted, as when metal is melted out of stone.

Interpretation. The Torah forbids making idols of any kind. The golden calf, made at Horeb, is the best-known molten image, and the psalms and the prophets, such as Isaiah, mock idols as useless. In Job it describes ordinary metal-working.

Examples

• Thou shalt make thee no molten gods. (Torah EXO.34.17, JPS 1917) tree →
• Turn ye not unto the idols, nor make to yourselves molten gods: I am the LORD your God. (Torah LEV.19.4, JPS 1917) tree →
• Cursed be the man that maketh a graven or molten image, an abomination unto the LORD, the work of the hands of the craftsman, and setteth it up in secret. (Torah DEU.27.15, JPS 1917) tree →
• They made a calf in Horeb, and worshipped a molten image. (Writings PSA.106.19, JPS 1917) tree →
• Who hath fashioned a god, or molten an image that is profitable for nothing? (Prophets ISA.44.10, JPS 1917) tree →
• Iron is taken out of the dust, and brass is molten out of the stone. (Writings JOB.28.2, JPS 1917) tree →

Note

Used for things that melt at very high temperatures (rock, metal, glass). For ice or butter, say «melted»: «melted butter», not «molten butter» (except in cooking jokes). «Molten» is an old form of «melted».

Early Modern English

Meaning

Made by pouring melted metal into a mould, so it is a solid thing shaped by heat; here it means a metal idol or gold that is melted and cast. tree →

Then and now

Today it means melted by great heat, as in molten lava; in the Torah "molten gods" are idols cast from metal, which is a sense today's readers would not expect.

Examples

• Thou shalt make thee no molten gods. (Torah EXO.34.17, JPS 1917) tree →
• “Why tears, beloved one?” cried the gnome anxiously; “every tear of yours falls upon my heart like a drop of molten gold. (The Brown Fairy Book) tree →
• Turn ye not unto the idols, nor make to yourselves molten gods: I am the LORD your God. (Torah LEV.19.4, JPS 1917) tree →

Note

Today: melted, cast in metal.