Definition

1. Adjective:
   • Liquefied by heat: Describes a solid material, typically a metal or rock, that has been heated to such a high temperature that it has melted and become a flowing liquid.
   • Made by melting and casting: Describes an object that has been formed by pouring a liquefied material into a mold.

Usage

• The adjective molten is used almost exclusively to describe materials that are liquid due to extreme heat, especially in industrial, geological, or metallurgical contexts.
• It is typically used attributively (before a noun) and is not commonly used predicatively (after a linking verb like "is" or "was").
• Correct: "molten lava," "molten steel."
• Less Common: "The steel was molten." (More common: "The steel was in a molten state" or "The steel had melted.")

Examples

• Attributive Use:
  • The volcano spewed molten rock and ash into the sky.
  • Workers poured the molten iron into casts to make engine blocks.
  • The intense heat of the forge turned the metal into a molten pool.

Advanced Usage

• "molten state": A formal phrase describing the condition of being melted.
  • The glass must be kept in a molten state during the blowing process.
• Figurative Use: Occasionally used in literature or descriptive writing to evoke intense heat, fluidity, or passion.
  • His molten anger was evident in his eyes. (This is a metaphorical extension, comparing anger to a hot, flowing liquid.)

Variants and Related Words

• Melt (verb): To change from a solid to a liquid state, usually through heat.
  • The ice will melt in the sun.
• Molten (verb, archaic): An old past participle of "melt." This form is obsolete in modern English.
• Molten (adjective, in compound terms): Used in specific technical terms.
  • molten-salt reactor (a type of nuclear reactor)

Synonyms

• Liquefied: Made liquid, though not necessarily by heat (e.g., by pressure).
• Melted: Changed from solid to liquid by heat. ("Melted" is more general and common; "molten" implies a higher, often industrial or geological, temperature.)
• Fused: Melted together.
• Fluid: A substance that flows, which can include liquids and gases.

Antonyms

• Solid: Firm and stable in shape.
• Frozen: Turned into ice or another solid.
• Congeaed: Changed from a liquid to a semi-solid or solid state.

Adjective

1. reduced to liquid form by heating
   • a mass of molten rock