man·tle¹ / ˈmantl/ • n. 1. a loose sleeveless cloak or shawl, worn esp. by women. ∎ fig. a covering of a specified sort: the houses were covered with a thick mantle of snow. ∎  (also gas mantle) a fragile mesh cover fixed around a gas jet, kerosene wick, etc., to give an incandescent light when heated. ∎  Ornithol. a bird's back, scapulars, and wing coverts, esp. when of a distinctive color. ∎  Zool. an outer or enclosing layer of tissue, esp. (in mollusks, cirripedes, and brachiopods) a fold of skin enclosing the viscera and secreting the substance that produces the shell. 2. an important role or responsibility that passes from one person to another: the second son has now assumed his father's mantle. 3. Geol. the region of the earth's interior between the crust and the core, believed to consist of hot, dense silicate rocks (mainly peridotite). ∎  the corresponding part of another planetary body: the lunar mantle.• v. 1. [tr.] poetic/lit. clothe in or as if in a mantle; cloak or envelop: heavy mists mantled the forested slopes. ∎ archaic (of blood) suffuse (the face): a warm pink mounted to the girl's cheeks and mantled her brow. ∎  [intr.] (of the face) glow with a blush: her rich face mantling with emotion. ∎  [intr.] archaic (of a liquid) become covered with a head or froth. 2. [intr.] (of a bird of prey on the ground or on a perch) spread the wings and tail, esp. so as to cover captured prey.man·tle² • n. variant spelling of mantel.

Mantle

The mantle was an all-purpose overgarment that was worn consistently throughout the Middle Ages (c. 500–c. 1500). Mantles were extremely simple: they consisted of a large piece of cloth, rectangular, semicircular, or circular, that was wrapped across the shoulders and fastened. In the eleventh and twelfth centuries the mantle was typically fastened at the right shoulder with a small metal clasp or brooch. By the late twelfth century, however, people began to drape the mantle over both shoulders and fasten it at the center of the chest. New fastenings included cords that tied or a button and loop.

The simplicity of the mantle made it very adaptable. Poor people might wear a mantle of undyed wool with a crude clasp. But wealthy people could wear mantles made of rich silk, trimmed with soft fur, and fastened with an expensive jeweled brooch. Some form of the mantle has been worn throughout the history of human dress: the basic form had been worn in ancient Greece and Rome, and were called chlaina, diplax, and chlamys, and people still wear capes to this day.

FOR MORE INFORMATION

Payne, Blanche, Geitel Winakor, and Jane Farrell-Beck. The History of Costume. 2nd ed. New York: HarperCollins, 1992.

[See also Volume 1, Ancient Greece: Chlaina and Diplax ; Volume 1, Ancient Greece: Chlamys ]

mantle
1. Zone lying between the Earth's crust and core, approximately 2300 km thick. The mantle is probably similar in composition to garnet peridotite and it represents about 84% of the Earth's volume and 68% of its mass. A mantle is present in most terrestrial planets and the Moon, but is of a different composition in each case.

2. (pallium) In Brachiopoda and Mollusca, a layer of tissue that covers the body and is responsible for the secretion of the shell.

mantle Layer of the Earth between the crust and the core, which extends to a depth of 2890km (1795mi). The mantle forms the greatest bulk of the Earth: 82% of its volume and 68% of its mass. The uppermost part is rigid, solid and brittle and, together with the Earth's crust, forms the lithosphere. Between a depth of about 60km (40mi) to 200km (125mi), the mantle has a soft zone that is called the asthenosphere. Here, temperature and pressure are in balance so that much of the mantle material is near melting point or partly melted and capable of flowing. The remainder of the mantle is thought to be more solid but still capable of creeping flow. In the lower mantle, several changes in seismic velocity can be detected. The chemical constitution of the mantle is uncertain, but it is thought to be made up of iron-magnesian silicates.

mantle loose sleeveless cloak XIII; applied to various coverings from XIV. ME. mantel — OF. mantel (mod. manteau):- L. mantellum, rel. to late L. mantus, medL. mantum, *manta short cloak, whence Sp., It. manto (F. mante) cloak, Sp. manta blanket, tapestry; perh. ult. of Celt. orig.
So mant(e)let cape, cloak XIV; movable shelter for men-at-arms XVI; screen for men working a gun XIX. — OF., dim. of mantel. mantilla woman's veil. XVIII. — Sp., dim. of manta. mantua loose gown for women. XVII. alt. of manteau by assoc. with the It. place-name Mantua. Hence mantle vb. XIV.