Cazdir
Cazdir arabice stagnum quod et rasas dicitur.
Apparatus:
Cazdir | Casdir ms. e
stagnum | stãgnum p
rasas B efjp | raxis ACD
{rasas} etiam add. f
Translation:
Cazdir is Arabic for Latin stagnum {"tin"}, which is also called rasas in Arabic.
Commentary:
Cazdir:
cf. Wehr (1976): ﻗﺼﺪﻴﺮ /qaṣdīr/ "tin".
Siggel (1950: 85): ﻗﺰﺩﻴﺮ /qazdīr/, ﻗﺼﺪﻴﺮ /qaṣdīr/ Zinn v. gr. κασσίτερος /kassíteros/ {i.e. "tin", cf. Greek κασσίτερος /kassíteros/}.
rasas:
Cf. Wehr (1976): ﺭﺼﺎﺹ /raṣāṣ/ "lead, bullets".
Siggel (1950: 81): ﺭﺼﺎﺹ /raṣāṣ/ Blei {i.e. "lead"}.
ﺭﺼﺎﺹ ﻗﻠﻌﻲ /raṣāṣ qalaʕī/ Zinn {i.e. "tin"}.
Siggel (1950: 86): ﻗﻠﻌﻲ /qalaʕī/ Zinn, Zinn-Bleilegierung {i.e. "tin, tin-lead alloy"}.
The Arabic lexicon at Simon's time did not clearly distinguish between the metals lead and tin. Thus e.g. ﺭﺼﺎﺹ /raṣāṣ/ could mean both metals, which is why Siggel (1950) adds ﻗﻠﻌﻲ /qalaʕī/ to avoid ambiguity. However ﻗﺰﺩﻴﺮ /qazdīr/, ﻗﺼﺪﻴﺮ /qaṣdīr/ was always "tin", ultimately derived from Greek κασσίτερος /kassíteros/ id. and ﻗﻠﻌﻲ /qalaʕī/ was used for "tin" and "tin alloys".
For further information see D. Goltz (1972: 179f, 243-5).
WilfGunther 14/12/13
See also: Kassiteros, Kazdir
