▪ I. enamel, n.
(ɛˈnæməl)
Forms: 5 innamyl, 6 inamel(l, enamell, 7 enammel, 7– enamel.
[f. enamel v.; the etymological senses are ‘means of enamelling’, ‘process or result of enamelling’; the former includes the sense of amel n., which became obs. in 18th c.]
1. a. A semi-transparent or opaque composition of the nature of glass, applied by fusion to metallic surfaces, either to ornament them in various colours, or to form a surface for encaustic painting; also (in 19th c.) used as a lining for culinary vessels, etc.
| 1463 in Bury Wills (1850) 35 A ruby with iiij labellys of white innamyl. 1586 T. B. La Primaud. Fr. Acad. i. (1594) 208 All works of gold, silver, and inammell. 1662 Evelyn Chalcogr. (1769) 44 Silver, to fill with a certain encaustic or black enamel. 1712 tr. Pomet's Hist. Drugs I. 193 Being finely ground, it is used by the Goldsmiths for Enamel. 1837 Disraeli Venetia i. ii. (1871) 5 Wild hyacinths..spread like patches of blue enamel. 1875 Ure Dict. Arts I. 277 The enamel of these saucepans is quite free from lead. |
b. fig.; formerly with notion of an additional or perfecting adornment; now chiefly with reference to the hardness and polish of enamel.
| a 1680 S. Charnock in Spurgeon Treas. Dav., Ps. cxxxv. 13 Unchangeableness is the thread that runs through the whole web; it is the enamel of all the rest. 1678 Jer. Taylor Serm. Ded., Those Truths..are the enamel and beauty of our Churches. 1825 Macaulay Milton, Ess. (1851) I. 14 None of the hard and brilliant enamel of Petrarch in the style. 1858 Hawthorne Fr. & It. Jrnls. II. 35 A genuine love of painting and sculpture..formed a fine and hard enamel over their character. |
c. A glassy ‘bead’ formed by the blowpipe.
d. In recent use applied to any composition employed to form a smooth hard coating on any surface (
e.g. on pottery, wood, leather, paper, etc.).
Cf. enamel v. 2. Also used
attrib., as
enamel paint.
| 1865 M. W. Brown U.S. Patent 49,708 2/2 In the use of my enamel-paint for the purposes of covering iron, steel, or other solid metallic substances..I apply a heat to the articles so covered or coated..not to exceed 300° Fahrenheit. 1895 Montgomery Ward Catal. 623/2 Enamel paint..for general decorative purposes. 1911 Encycl. Brit. XX. 458/1 The term ‘enamel paint’ was first given to a compound of zinc white, petrol and resin, which possessed on drying a hard glossy surface. The name is now applied to any coloured paint of this nature. 1946 M. Dickens Happy Prisoner viii. 153 She had managed to buy a whole range of enamel paints. |
2. Phys. [after
Fr. émail.] The substance which forms the hard glossy coating of teeth; the similar substance forming the coating of the bony scales of ganoid fishes.
| 1718 J. Chamberlayne Relig. Philos. (1730) I. iii. §2 The Teeth are surrounded with a hard Substance..the Enamel. 1782 A. Monro Anatomy 114 Each tooth is composed of its cortex, or enamel, and an internal bony substance. 1847 Carpenter Zool. §586 Fishes of this order [Ganoidians] are covered by angular scales, composed internally of bone, and coated with enamel. 1863 Lond. Rev. 10 Jan. 35/2 To nations good manners are what modesty is to chastity, or enamel to the teeth. 1873 Mivart Elem. Anat. vii. 250 The enamel is the hardest structure in the human body and almost entirely a mineral, containing but two per cent. of animal substance. |
3. An artistic work executed in enamel; an enamel-painting.
| 1762 H. Walpole Let. 6 June (1903) III. 95, I have not lost one enamel, nor bronze. 1861 Sat. Rev. 7 Sept. 253 The leather drinking-cup, helmet, and enamels, bespeak a thegn of high rank. 1863 Sir G. Scott Glean. Westm. Ab. 61 The execution of these enamels is truly exquisite. 1865 Reader Mar. 278/2 Henry Bone..for a single enamel..is said to have received 2,200 guineas. |
4. transf. (
poet. and
rhetorical) Applied to any smooth and lustrous surface-colouring (sometimes with added notion of varied colours);
esp. to verdure or flowers on the ground.
| 1600 Fairfax Tasso (J.), Down from her eyes welled the pearles round Upon the bright enamel of her face. 1665 Boyle Occas. Reflec. iv. i. (1675) 169 The various and curious Enammel of the Meadows. 1814 Cary Dante's Inf. iv. 113 On the green enamel of the plain Were shown me the great spirits. 1847 Emerson Poems, Each & All Wks. (Bohn) I. 399 The bubbles of the latest wave Fresh pearls to their enamel gave. 1864 Skeat Uhland's Poems 51 Leaf's enamel, blossom's beauty. |
5. attrib. and
Comb., as
enamel-colour,
enamel-lining,
enamel-manufactory,
enamel-painting,
enamel-plate,
enamel-powder,
enamel-work; also
enamel-kiln, a kiln for firing porcelain that has been printed on the glaze;
enamel-painting, the production of a picture by fusing vitrifiable colours laid on a metal surface;
enamel-paper, paper covered with a glazed metallic coating. Also (in dental anatomy),
enamel-cell, one of the cells of the
enamel-organ, sometimes called collectively ‘enamel-membrane’;
enamel-cuticle, that which covers the outer surface of the enamel;
enamel-germ, a portion of thickened epithelium, which afterwards develops into the
enamel-organ.
| 1784 S. Jones Let. 8 Mar. in Sel. Lett. J. Wedgwood (1965) 288 A man that can make as good..*Enamel coulers as any man in the country. 1799 G. Smith Laboratory I. 114 To prepare the flux for enamel-colours. |
| 1774 J. Wedgwood Let. 18 Dec. (1965) 170 Mr. Rhodes must fix them with a little Borax &c in his *enamel Kiln. 1881 Porcelain Wks. Worcester 30 Its true character is revealed after it has passed through the enamel kiln. |
| 1884 Daily News 24 July 6/3 The *enamel linings of cooking utensils used in the Royal Navy. |
| 1754 R. Pococke Travels (1889) II. 69 The china and *enamel manufactory at Battersea. |
| 1878 T. Bryant Pract. Surg. I. 558 Enamel developed from the *enamel organ. |
| 1847 Ld. Lindsay Chr. Art I. Introd. 209 Miniature and *enamel painting. 1875 Ure Dict. Arts II. 272 All enamel paintings are in fact, done on either copper or gold. |
| 1855 Owen Skel. & Teeth 267 The *enamel plates in the elephant's grinder. |
| 1875 Ure Dict. Arts II. 273 The *enamel powder is spread with a spatula. |
| 1756–7 tr. Keysler's Trav. (1760) II. 6 An *enamel-work of the ancient arms of Florence. 1879 Sir G. Scott Lect. Archit. I. 312 Of enamel-work you have splendid relics in the monument of William de Valence. |
▪ II. enamel, v. (
ɛˈnæməl)
Forms: 4
enaumayl, (4–5
anamal,
-el,
-yl, 5
annamal), 4–6
enamyl, (5
ennamel), 6–8
enamell, 7
en-,
inammel(l, (
enamol,
inamil, 8
enamle), 4–
enamel.
[ad. AFr. enamayller, enameler (1313 in Godef.), f. en- (see en-1) + amayl, amel n.] 1. a. trans. To inlay or encrust (metal) with a vitreous composition (see
enamel n.) applied to the surface by fusion. Also
absol. In early use chiefly denoting the inlaying or partial covering of a metallic surface in order to ornament it by the contrast between the colour of the enamel and that of the metal; afterwards applied to the process of entirely covering metals with enamel, to form a ground for painting in vitrifiable colours, or for any ornamental or economic purpose.
| c 1325 E.E. Allit. P. B. 1457 Brende golde..enaumaylde with azer. c 1400 Mandeville xix. 219 Foules, alle of gold, & richely wrought & enameled. 1420 in E.E. Wills 41 & þ⊇ cnap of þ⊇ couercle ys an-amylyd with blewe. a 1440 Sir Degrev. 634 Anamelede with azoure. 1458 Test. Ebor. (1855) II. 226 Silver that is anameled. ? c 1475 Sqr. lowe Degre 746 Your chaynes enameled many a folde. 1503 Privy Purse Eliz. of York (1830) 96 A payre of smalle knyves inamyled for the Quenes owne use. 1634 Sir T. Herbert Trav. 38 Jewels of gold inammeld and set with stones of worth. a 1691 Boyle (J.), It were foolish to colour or enamel upon the glasses of telescopes. 1716–8 Lady M. W. Montague Lett. I. xxxii. 112 A large bouquet of jewels made like natural flowers..well set and enamelled. 1799 G. Smith Laboratory I. 122 It will become fit to enamel with on gold or other metals. 1837 Goring & Pritchard Microgr. 40 A piece of dial plate enamelled black. 1872 Yeats Tech. Hist. Comm. 211 Kitchen utensils of tin and iron are enamelled. |
b. To inlay or cover metal surfaces with (figures or ornaments of enamel); to portray with enamel.
| 1494 Fabyan vii. 538 And therin imagery grauen & enamelyd moste curyouslye. 1558 Lanc. Wills I. 88 A ring of gold w{supt}{suph} letters one y⊇ outside enamyled. 1756–7 tr. Keysler's Trav. (1760) IV. 260 A golden triangle..on which is enamelled the image of the virgin Mary. |
c. transf. To variegate like enamelled work; to adorn or beautify (any surface) with rich and varied colours.
| 1650 Fuller Pisgah ii. vi. 143 The countrey thereof was enamelled with pleasant rivers. 1653 H. Cogan tr. Pinto's Trav. xxxix. (1663) 156 The Lord..enamels the Firmament with stars. c 1750 Shenstone Elegies xxvi. 4 Spring ne'er enamell'd fairer meads than thine. 1834 Pringle Afr. Sk. ix. 298 Millions of flowers of the most brilliant hues enamel the earth. 1875 J. Bennet Winter Medit. ii. xi. 387 In Corsica the roadside in the valleys..is enamelled with the purple Cyclamen. |
† d. fig. To adorn magnificently; to impart an additional splendour to what is already beautiful; to embellish superficially.
| 1593 Nashe Christ's Teares 63 You [preachers] count it prophane to arte-enamel your speech. 1597 Ingmethorpe Serm. 2 John Ep. Ded., You have enameld, as it were, and embroiderd that graund benefite with infinite other kindnesses. 1599 Nashe Lent. Stuffe (1871) 35, I might enamel and hatch ouer this device more artificially. a 1631 Donne Serm. x. 97 And being enameled with that beautiful Doctrine of good Workes too. 1670 Evelyn in Phil. Trans. V. 1057 How do such Persons enamel their Characters, and adorne their Titles with lasting and permanent honors! |
2. In various extended uses (see
enamelled).
a. To apply a vitreous glaze by fusion to (surfaces of any kind,
e.g. pottery).
b. To cover (any material,
e.g. wood, paper, cardboard, leather) with a smooth polished coating resembling enamel.
| 1889 Pall Mall Gaz. 17 Oct. 1/3 The craze for enamelled furniture and enamelled nick-nacks gets worse and worse. Everybody enamels. Bachelors enamel their own furniture and rooms. 1937 Discovery Feb. 57/2 Enamelled kitchen stoves. |
† c. Used by Holland as
transl. of L.
inurere: To ‘burn in’ the colours (applied with wax crayons) in encaustic painting.
Obs.| 1601 Holland Pliny II. 546 As touching the feat of setting colours with wax, and enamelling with fire. Ibid., And to inamel by the means of fire. |
d. As a cosmetic process: To apply certain preparations to (the face) in order to impart an appearance of smoothness to the skin.
| 1804 M. Wilmot Let. 9 Apr. in Russ. Jrnls. (1934) 92 The fashion of their country ordains that every woman shou'd enamel their face. 1868 N. & Q. 68 Enamelling the face. This practice..is partly described in a fragment of Ovid. |