The answers to these two questions involve Latin words which generally occur at the early stages:
- argentum, -ī [2/n]: silver
- aurum, -ī [2/n]: gold
However, it is
interesting to “explore”, to look at the other words that were options and to note some, at times, uncommon derivatives:
Video #1
The four options:
copper, gold, silver, tin
[1]
[i] aes, aeris [3/n]: copper; bronze; brass
- aēneus, -a, -um, or aereus, -a, -um: (made of) copper / bronze
[ii] cuprum, -ī [2/n] (Late Latin): copper
- cupreus, -a, -um: (made of) copper
[2] aurum, -ī
[2/n]: gold
- aureus, -a, -um: (made of) gold
[3] argentum, -ī
[2/n]: silver
- argenteus, -a, -um: (made of) silver
[4] stannum, -ī [2/n]: [i] “an
alloy of silver with lead, used for plating bronze”; [ii] tin
https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.04.0062:id=metallum-harpers
- stanneus, -a, -um: (made of / coated with) tin
Note:
[i] -eus:
used to create adjectives from nouns, mainly referring to the material from
which the object is made or covered:
ferrum, -ī [2/n]:
iron > ferreus, -a, -um
marmor, -is [3/n]:
marble > marmoreus, -a, -um
plumbum, -ī [2/n]:
lead > plumbeus, -a, -um
[ii] derivatives,
especially in chemical terms:
cupric: relating
to copper
auric: relating to
gold
argentine: relating
to silver; Fr. argent (money; silver)
stannic / stannous:
relating to tin
‘gold’, ‘silver’
and ‘tin’ are all of Germanic origin. Again, we have the co-existence of Latin
terms with narrow / specialised meanings, and Germanic words that are more
commonly used.
The exception is copper,
contracted from La: (1) aes (copper) + (2) Cyprium, referring to Cyprus [Κύπρος
/ Kŭpros], a principal source of copper during the Bronze Age.
Video #2
Au = aurum, -ī [2/n]: gold
Ag = argentum,
-ī [2/n]: silver
Pt = platīnum, -ī [2/n]: (Neo-Latin) platinum
Ti = tītānium, -ī [2/n]: (Neo-Latin) titanium
1.03.26:
Describing objects [1]; metals (i); Comenius XI (1658); Metals
https://adckl.blogspot.com/2026/01/210326-describing-objects-1-metals-i.html
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