I.a mine or quarry, ἁλὸς μέταλλον a salt- pit, salt- mine, Hdt.; χρύσεα καὶ ἀργύρεα μέταλλα gold and silver mines, id=Hdt.; μέταλλα (alone) silver mines, Xen.; μαρμάρου μ. marble quarries, Strab.
II.the sense of metal, Lat. metallum, does not occur in classical Greek.
Prob., like μεταλλάω, from μετ᾽ ἄλλα, a search for other things.