"thin tin plate for mirrors, etc.," 1858, from French tain "tinfoil" (17c.), an alteration of étain "tin," from Latin stagnum, stannum "alloy of silver and lead," in Late Latin "tin" (see stannic).
Entries linking to tain
stannic adj.
"containing tin," 1790, from Modern Latin stannum, from Late Latin stannum "tin" (earlier "alloy of silver and lead"), a scribal alteration of Latin stagnum, probably from a Celtic source (compare Irish stan "tin," Cornish and Breton sten, Welsh ystaen). The Latin word is the source of Italian stagno, French étain, Spanish estaño "tin."