What does "mantle" mean?
A piece of clothing somewhat like an open robe or cloak, especially that worn by Orthodox bishops.
Mantle
/ˈmæn.təl/ name, noun, verb
name, noun, verb ·Common ·Middle school level
Meaning at a glance
- Primary sense: A piece of clothing somewhat like an open robe or cloak, especially that worn by Orthodox bishops.
- Grammar: mantle is listed as name, noun, verb.
- Nearest alternatives: cape, pallium, aerate, apply.
- Useful contrasts: earth's core, abdicate, abdication.
- Usage evidence: Jupiter's powerful magnetic field is thought to be generated by the electric currents produced by pressurized hydrogen in the mantle.
How to use "mantle"
- Start with the primary definition, then check the part of speech before placing the word in a sentence.
- Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "mantle" carries the exact meaning, tone, and strength you need.
- Use the example sentence as a context check. If your sentence uses the word differently, confirm that the grammar still fits.
Meaning check
- Does the word fit the sentence's grammar?
- Does it match the intended tone rather than only the dictionary definition?
- Would a simpler synonym be clearer for the reader?
- Is there enough surrounding context to prevent ambiguity?
Source and review context
This entry combines structured lexical data with WordToolSet review checks. Definitions, examples, synonyms, and usage notes may come from different source tables, so the page is designed to show evidence from more than one angle before you rely on "mantle" in a final draft.
If a word has several senses, prefer the sense that matches your sentence's grammar and surrounding context. A correct definition can still be the wrong choice when the sentence needs a different register, emphasis, or level of specificity.
Before you rely on this definition
Read the first definition as a starting point, then check the example, synonyms, and part of speech before treating "mantle" as the right word for your sentence.
If your draft is formal, technical, persuasive, or sensitive, compare "mantle" with a nearby alternative so the final choice matches both meaning and reader expectation.
Compare nearby meanings
- Use synonyms when you need a softer, stronger, simpler, or more specific word.
- Use antonyms to check the boundary of the meaning and avoid accidental contrast.
- Use the example sentence to confirm the word behaves naturally in context.
- Keep the original wording when a replacement adds complexity without improving precision.
Definition decision workflow
1. Identify the role
Check whether "mantle" is acting as name, noun, verb in your sentence. A definition is only useful when the grammar matches the way the word is being used.
2. Test the nearest option
Compare it with "cape" and other nearby choices to see whether the sentence needs a softer, stronger, or more familiar word.
3. Confirm with context
Use the example sentence below as an evidence check, then read your own sentence out loud to catch tone or rhythm problems.
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Final meaning check
Before publishing a sentence with "mantle", ask whether the word helps the reader understand the idea faster. A precise word should reduce confusion, not simply make the sentence look more polished.
When the definition, synonym evidence, and example context point in the same direction, the word is usually a safer choice. When they conflict, revise the sentence or choose a clearer alternative.
Definitions
Noun
- 1 A piece of clothing somewhat like an open robe or cloak, especially that worn by Orthodox bishops.
- 2 a sleeveless garment like a cloak but shorter wordnet
- 3 A figurative garment representing authority or status, capable of affording protection. figuratively
"At the meeting, she finally assumed the mantle of leadership of the party."
- 4 hanging cloth used as a blind (especially for a window) wordnet
- 5 Anything that covers or conceals something else; a cloak. figuratively
"But look, the morn, in russet mantle clad, walks o'er the dew of yon high eastward hill."
Show 16 more definitions
- 6 shelf that projects from wall above fireplace wordnet
- 7 The body wall of a mollusc, from which the shell is secreted.
"He grasps the female from slightly below about the mid-mantle region and positions himself so his arms are close to the opening of her mantle."
- 8 (zoology) a protective layer of epidermis in mollusks or brachiopods that secretes a substance forming the shell wordnet
- 9 The back of a bird together with the folded wings.
- 10 the cloak as a symbol of authority wordnet
- 11 The zone of hot gases around a flame.
- 12 anything that covers wordnet
- 13 A gauzy fabric impregnated with metal nitrates, used in some kinds of gas and oil lamps and lanterns, which forms a rigid but fragile mesh of metal oxides when heated during initial use and then produces white light from the heat of the flame below it. (So called because it is hung above the lamp's flame like a mantel.)
- 14 the layer of the earth between the crust and the core wordnet
- 15 The outer wall and casing of a blast furnace, above the hearth.
- 16 A penstock for a water wheel.
- 17 The cerebral cortex.
- 18 The layer between Earth's core and crust.
"The crust (a mere 1% of the Earth's volume) is made of lighter melt products from the mantle."
- 19 Any similar layer in an exoplanet.
- 20 Alternative spelling of mantel (“shelf above fireplace”). alt-of, alternative
- 21 A mantling.
Verb
- 1 To cover or conceal (something); to cloak; to disguise. transitive
"As the morning steals upon the night, Melting the darkness; so their rising senses Begin to chace the ign'rant fumes, that mantle Their clearer reason."
- 2 cover like a mantle wordnet
- 3 To become covered or concealed. intransitive
- 4 spread over a surface, like a mantle wordnet
- 5 To spread like a mantle (especially of blood in the face and cheeks when a person flushes). intransitive
"[…]—that the richest people in the world have the hardest hearts in it, and refuse to help their fellow-creatures, save through the medium of ostentation, and in return for value received?—that the highest and oldest nobility in Europe—the purest blood which ever mantled in the lovely cheek of virgin woman—is regularly exhibited in large bodies, under the protection of British matrons, policemen, and constables, at half-a-crown a head?"
Show 3 more definitions
- 6 To climb over or onto something.
- 7 The action of stretching out the wings to hide food.
- 8 The action of stretching a wing and the same side leg out to one side of the body.
Proper Noun
- 1 A surname.
Antonyms
Example
"Jupiter's powerful magnetic field is thought to be generated by the electric currents produced by pressurized hydrogen in the mantle."
Common questions
What is a synonym for "mantle"?
Common synonyms include: cape, pallium, aerate, apply, apply to, arachnoid.
How do you use "mantle" in a sentence?
Jupiter's powerful magnetic field is thought to be generated by the electric currents produced by pressurized hydrogen in the mantle.
How do you pronounce "mantle"?
Pronounced /ˈmæn.təl/.
Etymology
From Middle English mantel, from Old English mæntel, mentel (“sleeveless cloak”), from Proto-West Germanic *mantel; later reinforced by Anglo-Norman mantel, both from Latin mantellum (“covering, cloak”) (French manteau), diminutive of mantum (Spanish manto), probably from Gaulish *mantos, *mantalos (“trodden road”), from Proto-Celtic *mantos, *mantlos, from Proto-Indo-European *menH- (“tread, press together; crumble”). Compare Icelandic möttull. Doublet of manteau.