white lead

Meaning

Noun

• tin, golden marcasite
• A basic lead carbonate formerly widely used for a white pigment in paint.

Origin

• In the sense of tin, already used before our era, as well as plumbum candidum and Arabic رَصَاص أَبْيَض, distinguished from plumbum nigrum / رَصَاص أَسْوَد, as tin and lead were improperly distinguished before modernity.