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Michiel de Vaan's Etymological Dictionary of Latin has for PIE:

a̯ei̯os copper

and

a̯eimos imitation, substitute

a̯imea̯ image, copy

All three words seemingly have the same root a̯ei̯-

Are these two words related? Did the word for copper initially mean "fake gold"?

Damian Yerrick
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Anixx
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    Fake gold even today is often made from mostly copper. – Baz Oct 03 '13 at 14:03
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    Where are you getting the latter two words? It's generally good practice to link to a source when you cite PIE reconstructions, since authorities don't all agree on forms or meanings. – TKR Oct 03 '13 at 16:48
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    @Tom Recht it is from Lubotsky's etymological dictionary of Latin language. – Anixx Oct 04 '13 at 01:40
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    @Anixx, never heard of this dictionary before. Surely, you meant to say de Vaan 2008? Alexander Lubotsky is the series editor. http://iedo.brillonline.nl/dictionaries/content/latin/index.html – Alex B. Oct 04 '13 at 13:09
  • @Alex B. yes... – Anixx Oct 04 '13 at 16:06

1 Answers1

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Copper being one of the earliest metals known to humans (it's the main component of bronze), I should rather think that if they are indeed related, there must be a simpler link related to smithery — and, by extension, artifice. We still talk of forgeries.

Nikolay Ershov
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