Zinn

English

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Germanic *tiną

Proto-West Germanic *tin

Old High German zin

Middle High German zin

German Zinnbor.

English Zinn

Borrowed from German Zinn.

Proper noun

Zinn

1. A surname from German.
   • 2025 September 10, Paighten Harkins and Sean P. Means, “George Zinn, arrested on suspicion of obstruction after Charlie Kirk shooting, is widely known Utah political ‘gadfly’”, in The Salt Lake Tribune‎^[1]:

     Often, Gill said, Zinn was arrested on suspicion of trespassing. He said Zinn was politically conservative, leaning libertarian, and would “give me a hard time for being a Dem.”

Derived terms

• annulus of Zinn
• Zinnian
• Zinn's membrane
• zonule of Zinn

German

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈtsɪn/

• Audio (Germany (Berlin)):

  (file)

• Audio (Austria):

  (file)

Etymology 1

Chemical element (edit)
Sn Atomic number 50 Zinn
Classification data Period 5 Group 14 Block p-block Class post-transition metal
Previous: ← Indium (In)
Next: Antimon (Sb) →

From Middle High German zin, from Old High German zin, from Proto-West Germanic *tin. Cognate with English tin.

Noun

Zinn n (strong, genitive Zinnes or Zinns, no plural)

1. tin

Declension

Declension of Zinn [sg-only, neuter, strong]

	singular
	indef.	def.	noun
nominative	ein	das	Zinn
genitive	eines	des	Zinnes, Zinns
dative	einem	dem	Zinn, Zinne1
accusative	ein	das	Zinn

¹Now rare, see notes.

Coordinate terms

• (Chemical Element): Previous: Indium. Next: Antimon

Derived terms

• zinnen

Related terms

• Zinnbecher, Zinnblech, Zinngefäß, Zinnkanne, Zinnsalz, Zinnsoldat
• Lötzinn

See also

Symbol	Pt	Au	Ag	Fe	Al	Sn	Cu
metal	Platin	Gold	Silber	Eisen	Aluminium	Zinn	Kupfer

Etymology 2

Proper noun

Zinn m or f (proper noun, surname, masculine genitive Zinns or (with an article) Zinn, feminine genitive Zinn, plural Zinns)

1. a surname

Descendants

• Translingual: Zinnia

Further reading

• “Zinn”, in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache‎^[2] (in German)
• “Zinn” in Uni Leipzig: Wortschatz-Lexikon
• “Zinn” in Duden online
• Zinn on the German Wikipedia.Wikipedia ^de

Hunsrik

Etymology

From Middle High German zin, from Old High German zin, from Proto-West Germanic *tin.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /t͡sin/

Noun

Zinn n

1. tin

See also

Symbol	Pt	Au	Ag	Fe	Al	Sn	Cu
metal	Platin	Gold	Silver	Eise	Aluminium	Zinn	Kupper

Further reading

• Boll, Piter Kehoma (2021), “Zinn”, in Dicionário Hunsriqueano Riograndense–Português, 3rd edition (overall work in Portuguese), Ivoti: Riograndenser Hunsrickisch