The conversion of a solid to a liquid by the application of heat and/or pressure.
Note:
For a liquid crystal, melting occurs when the three-dimensional periodic structure of a solid collapses
to give a liquid-crystal phase in which the molecules have orientational order, but
not long range translational order.
Source:
PAC, 1994, 66, 577
(Definitions of terms relating to phase transitions of the solid state (IUPAC Recommendations
1994))
on page 585