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

This suggests that the systems take a while to build and likely find their roots deeper in the planet’s atmosphere, and perhaps even deeper than that in its superheated ocean-like mantle of water, ammonia, and methane-ices. — Jill Kiedaisch, Popular Mechanics, "Hubble Observes Ice Giant Vortexes and Polar Storms on Neptune and Uranus," 9 Feb. 2019 The Ku Klux Klan pioneered the practice, and antifa has taken up the mantle in recent years. — Alejandro Bermudez, WSJ, "Catholics Against Columbus," 24 Jan. 2019 Some men are afraid of living up to the mantle of Frank Gifford, and there’s no reason for that. — Kayla Keegan, Good Housekeeping, "'Today' Star Kathie Lee Gifford and Her Late Husband Frank Went Through It All Together," 22 Mar. 2019 The more water transferred to the mantle should mean less on the surface. — Jill Kiedaisch, Popular Mechanics, "Earth’s Crust Is Swallowing Way More Ocean Than We Thought," 15 Nov. 2018 The boron, which is encased by protective rock, heads miles underground to the lower mantle. — Christopher Carbone, Fox News, "Extremely rare blue diamonds lurk deep in Earth's core," 2 Aug. 2018 Meanwhile, Ronaldo arrived in South Africa with the mantle of leader and start of a Portuguese side heavily reliant on his individual abilities, a trend that would continue for years. — Juan Pimiento, chicagotribune.com, "Russia 2018, Messi's and Ronaldo's last shot at World Cup glory," 8 June 2018 With teammates Caroline Wedeward, Tatum Straw and Josie Schrubbe, the Catholic Memorial sprint dynasty added another trophy to the mantle with a state-title run in the 800-meter relay at the Division 2 state meet in La Crosse on June 2. — Jr Radcliffe, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, "Catholic Memorial's Kathleen Hirsch and Josie Schrubbe never ran an individual event at state, but they'll graduate with five state titles," 2 June 2018 And once deployed, the data collected from these instruments will help scientists better understand the types of rocks in Mars’ mantle and core. — Loren Grush, The Verge, "NASA’s InSight lander has just six and a half minutes to land on Mars in one piece," 21 Nov. 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.