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Original / old English word for Metal or Metalcraft

English Language & Usage Asked by Arimeris on August 14, 2021

I would like to write my story in Anglish, which is basically, to my understanding, English without borrowed words from other languages. I like it because it sounds familiar and strange at the same time.

For example, carpenters would be woodworkers and carpentry would be woodcraft.

So far so good, but I struggle with metalworkers and metalcraft because as far as I can tell, metal is a relatively new addition to the English language and it is originally a Greek word.

I’ve done some Internet research, but the only useful thing I could find out was that "smith" is supposedly the original English word for a metalworker. That doesn’t help me with the original word for metal, though. I’m pretty sure there is something I just don’t understand…

So my question is, what would be an old / original English word for metal and metalcraft?

One Answer

The word "metal" has been in the English language at least since the time of Chaucer, meaning that almost every English purist would probably include it in their "Anglish".

This glossary of Chaucer includes the word "metal" and gives the meaning as "metal". The Chaucerian verb meaning to craft metal is "forge".

Answered by DJClayworth on August 14, 2021

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