Definition of "maltha" [‖Mal•tha]

• A black, viscous natural bitumen. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "The Greek language has contributed "maltha," to melt; the German "schmeltz," the old"
• "I felt a sudden flush and the child in my womb moved, stirred by the earth, the blood-red clay, Southern dirt laden with maltha, gilsonite and iron, feeding the unspeakable hunger."
• "Thus they form a heterogeneous assemblage of liquid hydrocarbons, of which naphtha and maltha may be said to form the extremes, and which have little in common, except their undefinable name."