mantle

noun

man·tle | \ ˈman-tᵊl

Definition of mantle

(Entry 1 of 3)

1a : a loose sleeveless garment worn over other clothes : cloak

b : a figurative cloak symbolizing preeminence or authority accepted the mantle of leadership

2a : something that covers, enfolds, or envelops (see envelop sense 1) The ground was covered with a mantle of leaves.

b(1) : a fold or lobe or pair of lobes of the body wall of a mollusk or brachiopod that in shell-bearing forms lines the shell and bears shell-secreting glands

(2) : the soft external body wall that lines the test or shell of a tunicate or barnacle (see barnacle sense 2)

c : the outer wall and casing of a blast furnace above the hearth (see hearth sense 1c) broadly : an insulated support or casing in which something is heated

3 : the upper back of a bird

4 : a lacy hood or sheath of some refractory (see refractory entry 1 sense 3) material that gives light by incandescence when placed over a flame

5a : regolith

b : the part of the interior of a terrestrial (see terrestrial sense 3) planet and especially the earth that lies beneath the crust and above the central core

6 : mantel

mantle

verb

mantled; mantling\ ˈmant-liŋ

, ˈman-tᵊl-iŋ \

Definition of mantle (Entry 2 of 3)

transitive verb

: to cover with or as if with a mantle : cloak the encroaching jungle growth that mantled the building— Sanka Knox

intransitive verb

1 : to become covered with a coating

2 : to spread over a surface

3 : blush her rich face mantling with emotion— Benjamin Disraeli

Mantle

biographical name

Man·tle | \ ˈman-tᵊl

Definition of Mantle (Entry 3 of 3)

Mickey (Charles) 1931–1995 American baseball player

Synonyms Mantle vs. Mantel More Example Sentences Learn More about mantle

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Mantle vs. Mantel

Noun

Keeping mantel and mantle straight is relatively simple.

Mantel in modern English largely does one job: it refers to the shelf above a fireplace. You can remember it by thinking of the "el" in both mantel and shelf.

Mantle on the other hand, does many jobs, including a number that are technical or scientific. Its most common uses are to refer to a literal cloak, mostly of the kind worn in days of yore ("she drew her mantle tighter"), and to a figurative cloak symbolizing authority or importance ("taking on the mantle of the museum's directorship"). It also refers to a general covering in literary uses like "wet earth covered in a mantle of leaves" or "a past shrouded in a mantle of secrecy." And it's also the term for the middle layer of the Earth between the crust and the inner core.

There is, however, a catch to these distinctions: mantle is sometimes used (especially in American English) to refer to the shelf above a fireplace as well—that is, as a synonym of mantel.

This isn't terribly surprising, given the histories of the words. They both derive from the Latin word mantellum, which refers both to a cloak and to a beam or stone supporting the masonry above a fireplace. The words came into use in English a couple centuries apart, but were for a time in the past nothing more than spelling variants.

While it's certainly simpler to use mantle in all cases, mantel is significantly more common as the choice for the shelf, which means it's the safer choice in those cases.

Examples of mantle in a Sentence

Noun

She accepted the mantle of leadership. a long black velvet mantle

Verb

early-morning fog mantled the fields along the river

Recent Examples on the Web: Noun

Some men are afraid of living up to the mantle of Frank Gifford, and there’s no reason for that. — Natalie Stone, PEOPLE.com, "Kathie Lee Gifford Says She Hates 'the Male-Bashing That's Going on in the World Today'," 16 Mar. 2018 Taking Tea For a successor to the mantle of Newton and Einstein, Hawking seems not to rate many perks. — Jerry Adler, Newsweek, "Stephen Hawking, Master of the Universe: Our 1988 Cover Story on the Legendary Physicist," 14 Mar. 2018 Another mantle she’s taken up (alone, so far) is her support of consignment and rental services, which extend the lifespan of garments and discourage people from constantly buying new ones, especially at fast-fashion chains. — Emily Farra, Vogue, "“I Need a Few More Colleagues Linking My Arm”—Stella McCartney Sounds Off on Sustainability, Faux Leather, and the Lack of Honesty Around Both," 15 Feb. 2019 Over the next few years, Palin began to fade, but she was replaced by a small army of candidates who picked up her mantle. — Laura Mcgann, Vox, "John McCain, Sarah Palin, and the rise of reality TV politics," 26 Aug. 2018 Noah Centineo, on the other hand, is a real person who can fuel endless new GIFs, one who is taking full advantage of his rise to fame to energetically pursue the mantle of the internet’s most wholesome boyfriend. — Constance Grady, Vox, "Noah Centineo and the rise of the wholesome internet boyfriend, explained," 28 Sep. 2018 And the Boomers, as seen in the very label classic applying to the soundtrack of their primes, have excelled at overlaying the mantle of myth on stories whose ink was still drying. — Spencer Kornhaber, The Atlantic, "Was Classic Rock a Sound, or a Tribe?," 28 May 2018 Here's a rundown of the main players in the race: The establishment GOP favorite State Sen. Troy Balderson, R-Zanesville, is the most likely to carry the mantle of Tiberi and Kasich in this seat. — Chrissie Thompson, Cincinnati.com, "Who's who in the crowded special election for Ohio's 12th District in Congress," 28 Apr. 2018 Intertwine fresh greenery with white ribbon around a staircase banister to reflect a tree covered in frost, or lights around your fireplace mantle replicating the glow of luminarias. — Lucia Tonelli, ELLE Decor, "A Celebrity Event Planner’s Secrets for the Best Holiday Party Ever," 10 Oct. 2018

Recent Examples on the Web: Verb

Piero has also taken the liberty of eliminating red in Mary’s clothing, mantling her solely in her other primary color, blue, an expensive shade made from lapis lazuli brought from Afghanistan along the Silk Road. — Willard Spiegelman, WSJ, "On the Brink of the Savior’s Arrival," 12 Oct. 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'mantle.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.