pewter
PYOO-ter · noun
LatinOld FrenchMiddle EnglishEnglish
Origin
Pewter comes from Middle English peutre, borrowed from Old French peautre, which traces to Vulgar Latin *peltrum, a word for the metal itself. Beyond that, its origin is uncertain.
Journey
The word has stayed close to its meaning throughout — it has always named this particular tin alloy, with no dramatic shift in sense recorded.
Related words
It's possibly related to spelter, another metal-alloy word, though the exact connection isn't certain.
More words
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