zinc
Apart from the standard derivation from the German word Zinken (barb) I have seen an obscure suggestion that the name zinc could be derived from the Persian word seng (stone). To me this does not...
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Reading a posting written in Indonesian: it could be that seng is translated in to English as zinc:groups.google.com/group/alt.sci.tech.indonesian seng (zinc)On edit:A little more context: niasin,...
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I wouldn't dismiss the Persian option out of hand. According to the "Britannica" (hopefully, a fairly reliable source), metallic zinc was isolated in India as early as the 13c, and produced...
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Van Dale doesn't mention the Persian option but only gives the etymology based on the German word.
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"Persian option" was an unfortunate choice of phrase (especially under the eagle eye of language hat). What I had in mind was a Far Eastern name, possibly in an Indian or Chinese language (this was...
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I now have on my desktop a .jpg image of two (simplified) Chinese ideograms, which (I am assured by two separate Chinese translators, at a site where I sometimes lurk) represent the Chinese word for...
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锌That is the (one) character for zinc. The pinyin is xin. The x is halfway between an English "s" and "sh" with no hiss and the "n" is not nasal at all. The "i" is like "ee". The tone is high and flat.
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Thank you. That is the answer that I got from several my translator colleagues. Trouble is, I'm afraid this may be the modern word "zinc" which has been assimilated into Chinese; what i was looking...
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I put the question to a Chinese university professor who is as close as one can get to an etymologist -- most Chinese words are, well...Chinese. When I hear something, I will get back to you.
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I'd bet money that the Chinese word for 'zinc' is borrowed from a Western language.
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And you would win the bet!When Lavoisier devised the Periodic Table, the Chinese adopted names for the elements (other than the common ones) which are pronounced like the symbol. Thus:uranium -...
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thank you for that fascinating info, HenanMike. It seems probable that we may never know for certain where the name "zinc" actually originated. Oh well. No one can say we didn't try.One little detail...
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At the risk of provoking ire, my favorite French chemist is LaCourvoisier. Actually, the Irish have a claim to inventing the Brandy making process, else why would you have Hennessy's?
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As to whether our zinc is from the German or the Persian word, the jury is probably still out.No it isn't. There's no doubt whatever the English word is from German; somebody saw somewhere on some...
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I can easily visualize Paracelsus (or whoever it was --- nobody seems to be absolutely certain) heating the stuff up to about 900 deg. C in his muffle furnace in a reducing atmosphere, condensing the...
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Nice site Lionello. There is a bit of a 'double layer' in this picture of Peter van der Krogt posing at the Strontian name sign. A common word for 'shit' in Dutch is 'stront'. School kids always...
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