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Origin and history of stannic

stannic(adj.)

"containing tin, of or pertaining to tin," 1790, with -ic + Modern Latin stannum, from Late Latin stannum "tin" (earlier "alloy of silver and lead"), a scribal alteration of Latin stagnum. This word probably is from a Celtic language (compare Irish stan "tin," Cornish and Breton sten, Welsh ystaen). Tin, essential in making bronze, was mined in Celtic regions in what is now Spain and southwestern England, and in the early Roman era the Gallic Celts were masters of bronze metalworking. The Latin word is the source of Italian stagno, French étain, Spanish estaño "tin."

also from 1790

Entries linking to stannic

stannary(n.)

usually in plural, Stannaries, the name of a district of tin mines and smelting works in Cornwall and Devon, mid-15c., ultimately from Late Latin stannum "tin" (see stannic).

As the industry was important and had its own ancient customs, the Stannaries were under jurisdiction of special courts (Court of Stannary) by 1460s, which were notorious for irregular summary proceedings. The courts and the jail for it in Devon were at Lydford, hence:

Lydford law: is to hang men first, and indite them afterwards. [Thomas Blount, "Glossographia," 1656]
stannate(n.)

salt of stannic acid, 1797, from Late Latin stannum "tin" (see stannic) + -ate (3).

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Trends of stannic

adapted from books.google.com/ngrams/ with a 7-year moving average; ngrams are probably unreliable.

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tin
Old English tin, from Proto-Germanic *tinom (source also of 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
frog-march
also frog's march, 1871, a term that originated among London police and referred to their method of moving "a drunken or refractory prisoner" by carrying him face-down between four people, each holding a limb; the connection with frog (n.1) perhaps being the notion of going along
crux
1814, "a cross," from Latin crux "cross," a word of uncertain origin. Sometimes said to be cognate with Irish cruach "heap, hill," Gaulish *krouka "summit," Old Norse hryggr "backbone," Old English hrycg "back." But de Vaan is suspicious: The Celtic and Gm. forms are often recon
consult
"ask advice of, seek the opinion of as a guide to one's own judgment," 1520s, from French consulter (16c.), from Latin consultare "consult, take the advice of," frequentative of consulere "to take counsel, meet and consider," originally probably "to call together," as in consuler
rib
Old English ribb "a rib; one of a series of long, slender, curved bones of humans and animals, forming a kind of cage or partial enclosure for the chief organs," from Proto-Germanic *rebjan (source also of Old Norse rif, Old Saxon ribbi, Old Frisian rib, reb, Middle Dutch, Dutch
cynic
1550s, "one of the ancient sect of philosophy founded by Antisthenes," from Latinized form of Greek kynikos "a follower of Antisthenes," literally "dog-like," from kyōn (genitive kynos) "dog" (from PIE root *kwon- "dog"). Supposedly the name is a reference to the coarseness of li
carnival
1540s, "time of merrymaking before Lent," from French carnaval, from Italian carnevale "Shrove Tuesday," from older Italian forms such as Milanese *carnelevale, Old Pisan carnelevare "to remove meat," literally "raising flesh," from Latin caro "flesh" (originally "a piece of fles
case
early 13c., "what befalls one; state of affairs," from Old French cas "an event, happening, situation, quarrel, trial," from Latin casus "a chance, occasion, opportunity; accident, mishap," literally "a falling," from cas-, past-participle stem of cadere "to fall, sink, settle do
abrupt
1580s, "sudden, unceremonious, without notice," a figurative use from Latin abruptus "broken off," also "precipitous, steep" (as a cliff), also "disconnected," past participle of abrumpere "break off," from ab "off, away from" (see ab-) + rumpere "to break," from a nasalized form
gender
c. 1300, "kind, sort, class, a class or kind of persons or things sharing certain traits," from Old French gendre, genre "kind, species; character; gender" (12c., Modern French genre), from stem of Latin genus (genitive generis) "race, stock, family; kind, rank, order; species,"

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