I. ˈman-t ə l noun
Etymology: Middle English mantel, from Anglo-French, from Latin mantellum
Date: 13th century
1.
a. : a loose sleeveless garment worn over other clothes : cloak
b. : a figurative cloak symbolizing preeminence or authority
accepted the mantle of leadership
2.
a. : something that covers, enfolds, or envelops
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
c. : the outer wall and casing of a blast furnace above the hearth ; 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 material that gives light by incandescence when placed over a flame
5.
a. : regolith
b. : the part of the interior of a terrestrial planet and especially the earth that lies beneath the crust and above the central core
6. : mantel
II. verb
( man·tled ; man·tling ˈmant-liŋ, ˈman-t ə l-iŋ)
Date: 13th century
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