'mettle' word in history

History of the word ‘mettle’

According to the Etymology Dictionary, the word ‘mettle’ was first seen in 1581 in variant spellings including ‘metall’ and ‘mettle’, both of which were used interchangeably by Shakespeare and others in the literal sense and in the figurative sense of 'stuff of which a person is made' until the spellings and senses diverged in the early 18th Century.   Known early printed uses of the word are:

• Daniel Roger’s 'Naaman the Syrian' used the two words ‘metal’ and ‘mettle’ interchangeably in his text from 1642:
  • 'Then she shewes the metall she is made of.'
  • 'To try the spirit of men, of what mettle they are made of.'
• The Free-thinker March 1719: 'I like the Lady's Wit and mettle.' 
• Encyclopaedia Britannica, 1797: 'To free the noble metals from the stony matter...'

By the turn of the 18th Century, the two spellings had begun to diverge: 'Mettle' was usually reserved for 'character, disposition—the stuff we are made of'.

Examples use of the word ‘mettle’ in the press

  Goal.com score to live   Jan 06, 2008 Saturday : view article

• HEADLINE: Chelsea show their mettle in Derby win
  BYLINE: Goal.com
  Quote: “Chelsea showed their mettle and their title credentials in the West London derby against Fulham, coming back from a goal down to win 2-1 and move closer to leaders Arsenal.

  AFR   Sept 21, 2007 Friday

• HEADLINE: Miner shows charity mettle
  BYLINE: Andrew Burrell
  Quote: “Miner shows charity mettle - Billionaire mining entrepreneur Andrew Forrest hopes his decision to give away $80 million worth of his fortune to a children's charity yesterday will inspire other business leaders to get involved in philanthropy on a larger scale.“

  Company Director    July 07 Issue

• HEADLINE: The X Factor: The secret recipes of successful companies
  BYLINE: Domini Stuart
  SECTION: Pg. 23
  Quote: “On a list of attributes which contribute to their success, having the mettle to stare down a challenge would have to be close to the top."

    The Australian (Australia)   December 5, 2006 Tuesday

• HEADLINE: Ditch Beazley's tough IR policy, Rudd told
  BYLINE: Peter Switzer
  SECTION: Finance Pg. 23
  Quote: “Small business leaders say WorkChoices will test the new Labour leader's mettle."

  The Weekly Times (Australia)  November 22, 2006 Wednesday

• HEADLINE: Lively sale proves size doesn't always count
  BYLINE: Simone Dalton
  SECTION: Markets; Pg.83
  Quote: “Edenhope: It might not have been a bumper crowd but the buyers at Edenhope last week showed their mettle by paying up to $70 for the 5000 first cross wether lambs on offer.“

  Canberra Times (Australia)  October 28,2006 Saturday

• HEADLINE: Return to The Great War
  BYLINE: The Canberra Times
  SECTION: A; Pg. B03
  Quote: “It can't speak of the mettle of the men who made history, men who gained medals, men with foibles and idiosyncrasies like us all. To slake the thirst Winston Churchill predicted in 1918 would come to grip the future Australian nation, for both the specifics of the Great War's strategy and the feats shown by our forbears—and weave them together—takes an extraordinary storyteller“