Zinc
mid 17th century: from German Zink, of unknown origin.
wiktionary
From German Zink, related to Zinke(“point, prong”), from Middle High German zinke, from Old High German zinko(“prong, tine”), allied to zint(“a jag, point”), from Proto-Germanic *tindaz(“prong, pinnacle”), from Proto-Indo-European *(e)dont-(“tooth, projection”). Cognate with Old English tind(“tine, prong”), Middle Low German tinde, Icelandic tindur(“spike, tooth of a rake or harrow, pinnacle, peak, battlement”). See also Dutch tinne(“battlement”), German Zinne(“pinnacle, battlement”), Danish tinde(“pinnacle, battlement”), Swedish tinne(“tooth of a rake”), More at tine. Doublet of zincum.
etymonline
zinc (n.)
1650s, zinke, from German Zink, perhaps related to Zinke "prong, point;" said to have been used first by Paracelsus (c. 1526) on analogy of the form of its crystals after smelting. Zinke is from Old High German zint "a point, jag," from Proto-Germanic *teng- "tine" (source also of Old Norse tindr "point, top, summit," Old English tind "prong, spike"), from PIE *denk- "to bite." Spelling with -c- is from 1813, from French influence.
