Derivations of Mineral Names. 141 
The Gr. payvyg entered L, as magnes, thence passing into It. 
magnete, Sp. magnetico, Fr. magnetique, M. H. G. magnes, H. G. 
magnet, Sw. magnet, O. Engl. magnes, Engl. magnet. 
tt On th’ other syde an hidious rock is pight 
Of mightie magnes-stone.”’ 
— Spenser, 1552-1559. 
COPPER was obtained by the ancient Greeks from the Island of 
Cyprus. Homer speaks of it (880 B.C.) as yadxo¢ ; and qualifies 
this term, which meant ore, bronze, metal or copper, by giving 
its color as gud oc=red. Later on the same name was applied to 
iron, and then the distinction yasxog Kuzpcoc=Cyprian metal, was 
made, in order to avoid confusion. In L. the word aes is equiva- 
lent to the Gr. yaìxoç; and the copper became known as aes Oyp- 
rium. (Pliny a.o.) By the end of the third century the word aes 
was dropped, and the descriptive adjective Cypriwm evolved into 
the noun cuprum. 
The alchemists gave copper the name and sign of Venus. 
Kurpcc is an old poetical name for Venus, used by Euripides (450 
B.C.) a. 0., and the Island of Cyprus was devoted to her cult. 
From L. aes Cyprium and M. L. cuprum have sprung: A.-Sax. 
cyper, O. H. G. Kuphar, H. G. Kupfer, O. Fr. cuyvre. Fr. cuivre, 
Sp. cobre, Sw. coppar, D. koper, O. Engl. coper, Engl. copper. 
“ Lyke as to a true syluer grote a false coper grote,” ete. 
—Sir T. More, 1478 to 1535. 
Turquols is really an adjective=turkish (from Turkey), and is 
taken directly from the French. In Middle German the word was 
turggis ; M. H. G., turkoys. In the middle of the sixteenth century 
this changed to Tiirckis and Türkis. The Sw. is turkos. N. L. 
forms are: Turcois, turcosa, turchesia ; It., turchesa, turchina ; Sp., 
turquesa ; O, Fr., turquoise; O. Engl., turques; Engl, turquois. 
j 
“I bequeth a ryng of gold, sette wta turques, a dyamaunt, and a 
4 ruby.” 3 —Fabyan, 1512. 
There are a few names, familiar to almost every one, that have 
an exotic sound, foreign to that of the languages which have princi- 
pally furnished the material for mineralogical nomenclature :— 
i TOURMALINE—also known as Turpelin during the last century, 
is derived from the Cingalese turamali. 
