mantel-, mantle-, -manteau +

(Latin: mantellum, cloak, veil; by way of Middle English, from Old English mentel and from Old French mantel; resulting in English words about: mantle, mantel, and manteau)

dismantle (verb), dismantles; dismantled; dismantling
1. To take apart, to disassemble, or to tear something down into its constituent pieces in a way that causes it to stop working: The auto mechanic dismantled the engine so he could repair it.
2. To destroy something by removing key elements; such as, an institution or system by removing its essential parts: The school program was dismantled because there was a lack of funding.
3. To strip a room or a building of its furniture or equipment: The buildings were dismantled so they could be demolished and new constructions be done to replace them.
4. Etymology: from the 1570's, from Middle French desmanteler, "to tear down the walls of a fortress", literally, "to strip off a cloak"; from des-, "off, away" or dis-, "apart, lack of, not" + manteler, "to cloak, to mantle".
To tear apart or to tear down.
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dismantlement
1. Having deprived or stripped something of its apparatus, furniture, equipment, defenses, etc.: "The country was required to continue with the dismantlement of their war ships and military bases."
2. That which has been disassembled, pulled down, or taken apart: "The dismantlement of the machines make it possible for the company to transport them in pieces instead of moving such gigantic equipment."

"The dismantlement of the power plant was more expensive than anticipated."

3. The divestment (reduction or disposal) of a dress, a covering, etc.: "The dismantlement of the leaves from the trees was a result of the strong wind."
dismantler (s), dismantlers (pl) (noun forms)
1. Someone who separates the parts of something; such as, a machine so it no longer forms a single unit: "All of the auto manufacturing equipment was taken apart by a dismantler so it could be transported to China."
2. A person who ends a political or economic system or who gets rid of an institution: "There were fears that the new governor would be the dismantler of the state education system."
3. Protestors or demonstrators are usually trying to change the current system of government or an economic system: "The dismantlers in the streets wanted to change the political leadership because they could not get jobs even though they were educated and many were experienced in vocational fields."

dismantling (s), dismantlings (pl) (noun forms)
Something which has been destroyed in an orderly way or to gradually cause something to come to an end: "The dismantling of old factories took place over a long period of time and at great expense."

"There are those who feel that there should be more dismantlings of government programs in order cut down on the excessive debt."

lower mantle
The portion of the mantle below a depth of about 600 miles (1,000 kilometers) which is also known as "inner mantle" or the "mesosphere".
manta
1. Any of extremely large pelagic tropical rays that feed on plankton and small fish; usually, harmless but its size can make it dangerous if harpooned.
2. Several rays of the family Mobulidae, inhabiting tropical and subtropical seas and having a large flattened body, winglike pectoral fins, a whiplike tail, and two hornlike fins that project forward from the head.

Also called devilfish, manta ray, sea devil.

3. A blanket that is used as a cloak, shawl, or a horse blanket.
4. A rough-textured cotton fabric or blanket made and used in Spanish America and the southwest United States.
5. A movable military shelter formerly used to protect besiegers; such as, when attacking a fortress.
manteau (s), manteaus, manteaux (pl)
1. A woman's loose cloak or mantle.
2. A gown worn by women.
mantel
1. An ornamental facing around a fireplace or the protruding shelf over a fireplace; usually, made of stone or wood, which is also known as a "mantelpiece, mantelshelf", or "fireboard".
2. Etymology: from the late 15th century, "short, loose, sleeveless cloak"; a variant spelling of mantle.

The sense of "movable shelter for soldiers besieging a fort" is from 1520's.

The meaning of "timber" or "stone supporting the masonry above a fireplace" was first recorded in the 1510's.

mantel, mantle
mantel (MAN t'l) (noun)
An ornamental facing around, or over, a fireplace: The old clock stood on the mantel and kept perfect time.
mantle (MAN t'l) (noun)
1. A loose sleeveless coat worn over outer garments; a cloak: When Marvin went to the opera, he put on an elegant mantle instead of a jacket.
2. Something that covers, envelops, or conceals: Looking up into the sky was like looking at a dark blue mantle overspreading the earth.

A tragedy almost happened when the glamorous opera star, wearing an elegant mantle, leaned against the mantel of the fireplace and her mantle almost caught on fire.

mantelletta
A knee-lengh, sleeveless vestment worn by Roman Catholic prelates (a church dignitary; such as, an ecclesiastic of a high order; including, an archbishop, a bishop, etc.).
mantle (s), mantles (pl)
1. A loose sleeveless cloak worn over outer garments.
2. A small circle of wire mesh in a gas or oil lamp that gives out incandescent light when heated by the flame it surrounds.
3. A role or position, especially one that can be passed from one person to another: "He assumed the mantle of the CEO of the company."
4. Something which envelops or covers something else: "The city was covered for over a week with a mantle of snow."
5. To unfold and to spread out the wings, like a mantle; for example, the way hawks do it.
6. The wings, shoulder feathers, and back feathers of a bird when colored differently from the rest of the body which enclose the body like a cloak.
7. The part of the brain that includes the convolutions (elevations on the surfaces of structures and the infolding of the tissues upon themselves), corpus callosum (arched bridge of nervous tissue that connects the two cerebral hemispheres, allowing communication between the right and left sides of the brain), and the fornix (fold in the shape of an arch of two bands of white fibers in the brain).
8. A tissue covering most of the body of mollusks which secretes the shell(s), and in shell-less mollusks , it is tough and protective.

The mantle is folded to enclose the mantle cavity, which contains the respiratory organs.

In squids, the mantle cavity has muscular walls which contract to force water out of the mantle cavity that propels the animal quickly through the water.

mantle convection
An assumed process deep within the earth in which hotter materials move toward the surface while cooler materials are sent back down to the interior.

Mantle convection has been compared to the motions which occur inside a pot of boiling tar.

Heat which is supplied from below lowers the viscosity of the tar and causes it to rise slowly to the surface, where it cools and sinks o the bottom to be reheated.

The "skin" which forms on the top is similar to the earth's lithosphere.

—Partially compiled from information located in
Physical Geology by Anatole Dolgoff; Houghton Mifflin Company;
Boston, Massachusetts; 1998; page 133.
mantle ice, ice sheet
A broad glacial mass with a relatively flat surface.
mantle layer
1. The part of the interior of the earth, or another planet, located below the crust and above the core, extending to a depth of about 3,500 kilometers below the surface.

The hot plastic asthenosphere, part upper mantle and lower crust about 186 miles (300 kilometers) thick, separates the more brittle crust-mantle lithosphere above from the mesosphere below.

This is thought to be responsible for the movement of the lithospheric plates (crustal plates) which slowly "carry" the continents around the planet.

The more solid mesosphere, which is located below he asthenosphere, includes part of the upper and all of the lower mantle.

—Partly compiled from information located in
The New York Public Library Science Desk Reference
Editorial Director, Patricia Barnes-Svarney; A Stonesong Press Book;
New York; 1995; page 377.

2. The nuclear zone of the developing neural tube between the marginal layer and the ependymal layer (covering of internal and external surfaces of the body, including the lining of vessels and other small cavities); which forms the gray matter of the central nervous system.
mantle plume
A large upwelling of molten material from the earth's mantle.