noun / verb

alloy

AL-oy/ˈælɔɪ/

A mixture of a metal with one or more other elements.

Combining copper and tin produces bronze, an alloy cast into an ingot.

A compact, object-only material sequence shows copper and tin combined in a crucible and cast as one bronze ingot.

Etymology

Binding things together is the underlying image: metals are joined into a mixture. The noun first concerned a noble metal’s purity, then expanded to mixtures without implying that one metal was inferior.

In context

PowerfulJRE108:00

26 alternating layers, 1 to 4 microns dark bismuth with a hundred to two hundred microns of silver magnesium zinc alloy.

Joe Rogan Experience #2479 - Bob Lazar & Luigi Vendittelli

More examples

Bronze is an alloy containing copper and tin.
Engineers alloy metals to obtain useful combinations of properties.
The furnace is used for alloying several metals.

Forms

alloy · alloys · alloyed · alloying

Similar words

metal: Can be an unmixed element rather than a blended material.
mixture: Broader; does not imply that a component is metal.