Cerusa
Cerusa est plumbi erugo que grece psimitium dicitur arabice vero afsidegi.
Apparatus:
erugo ABC ep | errugo j | cerusa erugo f
psimitĩ ef | phimituʒ j | prosimitĩ B | prosimitium (-itiũ A p) AC p {'p' misread as '̧p', i.e. the abbreviation for "pro", cf. Cappelli (1912: 257), 4th column top} | psimitium scripsi (Wilf Gunther)
asfidegi jp | afsidegi ABC e {'sf' misread as 'fs'} | assidegi f {'sf' misread as 'ss'}
Translation:
Cerusa is the "rust" of lead, which the Greeks call psimitium; in Arabic it is called afsidegi.
Commentary:
According to Lewis & Short (1879) cerussa {"white lead or ceruse"} was used by painters, and by women for making the skin white; also in medicine, and in large doses as a poison. For further information see [[1]].
The Latin word is no doubt a loan word but any suggestions of its original source are disputed.
For the Greek lemma see Psimithion.
For Arabic see Asfidegi.
WilfGunther 07/06/2013
