all-metal

The compound adjective 'all-metal' is a transparent and relatively modern formation in English, following a productive pattern for describing an object's composition. The first element, 'all', derives from the Proto-Germanic allaz, carrying the fundamental sense of "whole, entire", which it retains in this compound to signify totality. The second element, 'metal', has a more complex journey from the Greek metallon, originally meaning "mine" or "quarry", through Latin metallum, to its specialized meaning for a class of hard, malleable, and conductive elemental substances. The logic of the word is straightforwardly literal: "entirely made of metal," directly combining the ancient sense of completeness with the classical term for the material to create a precise descriptive term, particularly common in 20th-century contexts like aviation ("all-metal aircraft") or manufacturing.

Structure: all (entirely) + metal (a hard, shiny material) - all: From Old English eall, meaning "entire, whole, every". It functions as an intensifying prefix in compounds, indicating completeness. - metal: From Old French metal, from Latin metallum (mine, mineral, metal), from Greek metallon (mine, quarry). It functions as the core noun, specifying the material.