Meaning

noun small cold-water silvery fish; migrate between salt and fresh water

noun small trout-like silvery marine or freshwater food fishes of cold northern waters

verb extract (metals) by heating

originFrom Middle Dutch smelten (“to melt”) or Middle Low German smelten (“to melt”), from Old Dutch *smeltan or Old Saxon smeltan, both from Proto-West Germanic *smeltan, from Proto-Germanic *smeltaną (“to melt”). Related to English melt and Old English meltan (“to melt”). Cognate to Dutch smelten, German schmelzen.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 3.0