Skip to content
Ojalá
Words
Certain: The standard etymology in the RAE dictionary and in Corriente; no serious doubt.Science & games · Specialized

azogue

quicksilver, mercury — the liquid metalmercurio, el metal líquido

Comes from Arabic

الزَّاوُوق

az-zāwūq

“mercury”«el mercurio»

Arabic today says

زِئْبَق

ziʾbaq

The article

Spanish kept the Arabic article al- glued to the word.

Arabic itself had taken it from Persian.

The story

The Almadén mines (al-maʿdin, "the mine") supplied quicksilver to half the world. Arabic today says زئبق, another form of the same Persian word.Las minas de Almadén (al-maʿdin, «la mina») daban azogue a medio mundo. En árabe hoy se dice زئبق, otra forma de la misma palabra persa.

More from “Science & games”