calamine — ODE

calamine /ˈkaləmʌɪn

▸ noun

1 [mass noun] a pink powder consisting of zinc carbonate and ferric oxide, used to make a soothing lotion or ointment:

[as modifier] calamine lotion.

2 dated smithsonite or a similar zinc ore.

– ORIGIN late Middle English: via Old French from medieval Latin calamina, alteration of Latin cadmia ‘calamine’, from Greek kadmeia (gē) ‘Cadmean (earth)’, from Kadmos ‘Cadmus’ (see Cadmus).