Malleable means soft enough to be hammered into a new shape. Malleable metal, gold is malleable, a malleable mind.
In metals it is distinct from ductile: malleable means it can be beaten flat, ductile means it can be drawn into wire, and most metals are both. Gold is the most malleable of all and can be beaten thin enough to see through. The Latin malleus means a hammer.
1adjectivemalleableSoft enough to be hammered into a new shape.
“Copper is malleable enough to be hammered into pots and pans.”
2adjectiveeasilyEasily influenced.
“Young minds are malleable, so teachers have a huge influence.”
malleable is a quality of material.
Latin malleabilis comes from malleare, to hammer, from malleus, a hammer. Mallet is the same hammer.
Proto-Indo-European
*melh₂-
Latin
malleābilis
Middle French
malléable
English, today
malleable
Built from
From Middle French malléable, borrowed from Latin malleābilis, derived from Latin malleāre (“to hammer”), from malleus (“hammer”), from Proto-Indo-European mal-ni- (“crushing”), an extended variant of melh₂- (“crush, grind”).
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA