white lead

The story

1. Latin · calque ofplumbum album
2. English todaywhite lead

In the tin sense, a calque of Latin plumbum album (literally “white lead”), a term already in use before our era, for tin and lead were not yet properly distinguished prior to modern times. Compare Latin plumbum candidum (literally “shining-white lead”) and Arabic رَصَاص أَبْيَض (raṣāṣ ʔabyaḍ, “white lead”), both of which were also used to mean “tin” and to distinguish it from lead proper, called “black lead” (plumbum nigrum; رَصَاص أَسْوَد (raṣāṣ ʔaswad)) in those ancient tongues.