Metals │ metalla
Lead, 1. is soft, and heavy. │ plumbum,
1. est molle & grave.
Iron, 2. is hard, and steel, 3.
harder. │ ferrum, 2. est dūrum, & c(h)alybs, 3. dūrior.
They make tankards
(or cans), 4. of tin. │ faciunt cantharōs, 4. ē stannō.
Kettles, 5. of copper, │ ahēna, 5. ē cuprō,
Candlesticks, 6. of latten*, │ candēlābra,
6. ex orichalcō,*
Dollers, 7. of silver, │ thalerōs, 7.
ex argentō,
Ducats and
crown-pieces, 8. of gold. │ scūtātōs et corōnātōs, 8. ex aurō.
Quick-silver is always liquid, and eateth thorow (through)
metals. │ argentum vīvum, semper liquet, & corrōdit metalla.
[1]
*orichalcum, -ī [2/n]: the translator actually used the word ‘Latin’ to
describe this metal (maybe a 17th century auto-correct!), but I’ve changed it
to what it should be i.e. latten; in Roman times it referred to yellow
copper ore, or an alloy of gold and copper; Late / Mediaeval Latin: brass
argentum, -ī [2/n]:
silver
aurum, -ī [2/n]: gold
chalybs, chalybis
[3/m]: steel
cuprum,
-ī [2/n]: (Late Latin)
copper
ferrum, -ī [2/n]:
iron
metallum, -ī [2/n]: metal; in Classical Latin it most often referred to a
mine from where the metals were quarried
plumbum, -ī [2/n]:
lead
stannum, -ī [2/n]:
tin
[2]
ahēnum:
alternative spelling of aēnum, -ī [2/n]: copper vessel, cauldron (i.e. not the
kettles we envisage today; see #5 in the original image); in Roman times it was
hung over a fire and used in boiling
The text refers to
contemporary coinage (not, of course, from the Roman period):
[i] thalerus, -ī
[2/m]: thaler, monetary unit used in central and northern European countries
> Gmn: T(h)aler > Engl. dollar
[ii] an important
feature of Latin appears in two references to coins in the text (which will be
discussed more in the next post):
(1) scūtātus,
-a, -um: (literally) armed with a shield < scūtum, -ī [2/n]: shield
(2) coronātus,
-a, -um: (literally) crowned < corona, -ae [1/f]: crown
i.e. these terms
describe features of several different coins
in Mediaeval and
later texts:
(1) any coin whose
obverse showed a coat of arms or shield
nummus scutātus =
a coin with a shield on it > Fr. écu; Port. escudo
(2) any coin with
the design of a crown on it: nummus coronātus
(3) the term
‘ducat’ used as the translation: ducātus, -ūs [4/m]: (Late / Mediaeval)
leadership; duchy. The coin originated in Venice in 1284 and although Venice
was never a duchy, the coin acquired that name and was one of the most trusted
trade coins in Europe
[3]
dūrus, -a, -um:
hard
gravis, -e: heavy
mollis, -e: soft
[4] Apart from the
abbreviations of the chemical elements, bear in mind the great number of
English derivatives. While these
derivatives may have had ‘journeys’ through, for example, Old French – and
their meanings may have changed – those meanings have never deviated so far
that you cannot identify the origin.
An interesting
feature is the co-existence of Latin and Germanic words in English where Latin
did not replace the original Old English word, but is used in words related to
it even if some of them are not common:
Old English: heard
La: dūrus, -a,
-um: hard > durable; endure
Old English: hefiġ
La: gravis, -e:
heavy > grave (serious)
Old English: sēfte
(sōfte)
La: mollis, -e:
soft > mollify (soften)
Old English:
(various spellings) īsern
La: ferrum, -ī:
iron > ferrous; ferric
Old English: gold
La: aurum, -ī
[2/n]: gold > aurous (containing gold)
Old English: lēad
La: plumbum, -ī:
lead > plumber c.f. plumbārius, -ī [2/m], but we also use leadworker;
plumb line; plummet
Old English: tin
La: stannum, -ī [2/m]: tin > stannic (containing tin)
No comments:
Post a Comment