Old English tin, from Proto-Germanic *tinom (cf. Middle Dutch and Dutch tin, Old High German zin, German Zinn, Old Norse tin), of unknown origin, not found outside Germanic.
Other Indo-European languages often have separate words for "tin" as a raw metal and "tin plate;" e.g. French étain, fer-blanc. Pliny refers to tin as plumbum album "white lead," and for centuries it was regarded as a form of silver debased by lead.
The chemical symbol Sn is from Late Latin stannum (see stannic). Tin-type in photography is from 1864. Tin ear "lack of musical discernment" is from 1909. Tin Lizzie "early Ford, especially a Model T," first recorded 1915.
tin (tĭn)
n.
Symbol Sn
A malleable metallic element used to coat other metals to prevent corrosion. Atomic number 50; atomic weight 118.71; melting point 231.89°C; boiling point 2,602°C; specific gravity 7.31; valence 2, 4.
| tin (tĭn) Symbol Sn A malleable, silvery metallic element that occurs in igneous rocks. It has a crystalline structure and crackles when bent. Tin is used as an anticorrosion agent and is a part of numerous alloys, including bronze. Atomic number 50; atomic weight 118.71; melting point 231.89°C; boiling point 2,270°C; specific gravity 7.31; valence 2, 4. See Periodic Table. See Note at element. |
Heb. bedil (Num. 31:22; Ezek. 22:18, 20), a metal well known in ancient times. It is the general opinion that the Phoenicians of Tyre and Sidon obtained their supplies of tin from the British Isles. In Ezek. 27:12 it is said to have been brought from Tarshish, which was probably a commercial emporium supplied with commodities from other places. In Isa. 1:25 the word so rendered is generally understood of lead, the alloy with which the silver had become mixed (ver. 22). The fire of the Babylonish Captivity would be the means of purging out the idolatrous alloy that had corrupted the people.
principal Etruscan deity, god of the thunderbolt, sky, and storm. He was identified with the Greek god Zeus and the Roman god Jupiter. Tinia together with his wife Uni (identified with Greek Hera and Roman Juno) and Menerva (or Menrva, Roman Minerva) formed the supreme triad of the Etruscan pantheon.