anneal
verb

- to strengthen, toughen

- to heat and then cool (a material, such as steel or glass) usually for softening and making less brittle

Merriam-Webster

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WORD ORIGIN

Anneal comes from Old English onǣlan meaning "to set on fire, kindle, burn". It breaks down as: on- (prefix meaning "on”), ǣlan (to burn, bake) from ǣl (fire)

By Middle English it had evolved to mean specifically heating and then gradually cooling materials (especially glass and metal) to remove internal stresses and increase toughness.

This technical usage became standard by the 17th century as metalworking techniques became more sophisticated.

The metaphorical extension of "anneal" to human character appeared surprisingly late—primarily in the 19th and 20th centuries.

The 19th century particularly embraced this imagery, fitting perfectly with Victorian ideals about adversity building moral fibre. Educational and religious writings frequently employed annealing/tempering metaphors to justify harsh conditions as character-building.

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TEMPERED BY FIRE



Victorian writers loved the image of the furnace—a place where base metal becomes steel, and soft character becomes something harder and more reliable. They lived in an age of industry and moral anxiety, so nothing seemed more fitting than heat, pressure and hammer-blows as symbols of moral growth. In their world, suffering was not just endured; it was smelted, tempered and polished into virtue.

Though we’ve abandoned much Victorian thinking, these metaphors linger. We still speak of being "tested by fire," of adversity as a "forge," and of the need to "toughen up." This imagery shows up when we describe a high-pressure workplace as a "pressure cooker" or when we hope a difficult military or athletic program will "build character" in the same way a blacksmith shapes a blade. Business leaders describe market downturns as "separating the wheat from the chaff"—another metallurgical echo.

Self-help books promise that hardship will "refine" us, "burn away" weakness, and leave us "battle-hardened." We “buckle under pressure," "bend but don't break," or prove we have "the mettle" for difficult tasks.

The imagery has outlasted its original context because it still works: it gives us a clear way to understand growth—one that treats difficulty not as misfortune, but as the very process by which people become steadier, more capable, and more reliable.

Helga & Paul Smith

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SYNONYMS

ANNEAL, baked in adversity, baptism of fire, burn off the dross, cured under pressure, forged in fire, fortify,  hammered into shape, harden, inure, nose to the grindstone, pressure-harden, put through the mill, refined in the furnace, reinforce, seasoned, shaped on the anvil, steeled for battle, steel, strengthen, temper, tempered by hardship, the school of hard knocks, toughen, toughen up, trial by fire, tried and tested

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SMUGGLE
 OWAD into a conversation today, say something like:

“Overcoming personal difficulties are essential to the ANNEALING of one's character.” 

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