Tinne

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A minor or lesser type of tin featuring a low melting point
2. A synonym for a small container or vessel often used for holding substances
3. A term referring to the composition of metal alloys containing tin as a significant component

Etymology: "Tinne" is an obsolete or rare English noun for metal containing tin, a sense that appears in the Oxford English Dictionary mainly in older technical and mining writing. It is formed from "tin" with the final "-e" that was common in Middle English spellings, so the word's core is the same Old English "tin" that names the element itself. That word has a Germanic lineage, and the metal it names was familiar in Britain long before English had a name for it. The more interesting part is how a simple noun for tin came to need a separate form for alloys. Early metalworkers spoke of tin in the ordinary sense, and mixtures like bronze were understood by their ingredients, so specialist terms for tin-bearing compounds were coined only when mining and metallurgical writing demanded finer distinctions. Because the form is so rare, dictionaries record it sparingly, and it survives mostly as a label for a substance that has long since been described in more standard terms.

Synonyms: tin