English
zinc
Zinc comes from German Zink.
- Germanc. 1650–presentZink
- Englishearliest quotation 1904zinc
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
Earlier history uncertain.
Lineage
- Germanc. 1650–presentZink
- Englishearliest quotation 1904zinc
Earliest quotation: 1904, The Saturday Review of Politics, Literature: “Then, three workmen throwing dice for drinks. And their…”
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *h₃ed- ‘to smell’
odor, annoy, ozone, trident, egregious, toothless, odious, denture, redolent, dentate, osmium, odium, dentin, 64 more
through Proto-Indo-European *h₃dónts ‘tooth’
Today it means
noun A chemical element (symbol Zn) with an atomic number of 30, a blue-silvery metal that is slightly brittle at room temperature and tarnishes slightly in moist air.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / German Zink / zinc