Why is melting called fusion ?

[northernbear]

why is "melting" called "fusion"?

any idea why is "melting" called "fusion"?

molecules during melting are moving farther apart, they are not "fusing" together. It seems counterintuitive to call "melting" "fusion"

 

[Borek]

That's just the way it is.

http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/fusion

 

[northernbear]

thank you! I can now sleep better, haha
i see the etymology stems from Latin "fundere," to "pour to melt" "melting together"
i guess, in chemistry, fusion retained the "melting" aspect of its roots, whereas other uses of the word, such as nuclear fusion, jazz fusion, retained the "bringing things together" aspect of the root
"fondu" has retained both the "melting" and the "mixing together" meanings of the word
thanks again

 

[russ_watters]

I'd actually never seen that definition of the word before...