Pewter is a dull grey metal used for old plates and mugs. A pewter tankard, pewter plates, dull pewter.
It is mostly tin with a little copper or antimony, and it was the ordinary tableware of European households for centuries before cheap china arrived. Old pewter contained lead, which is why antique pieces should not be drunk from. Note that the origin of the word is uncertain.
1nounpewterA dull grey metal alloy of tin.
“The pub served beer in old pewter tankards.”
pewter is a metal.
Old French peautre comes from a Vulgar Latin word of uncertain origin. Spelter may be related.
Vulgar Latin
*peltrum — pewter
Old French
peautre
Middle English
peutre
English, today
pewter
From Middle English peutre, from Old French peautre, from Vulgar Latin peltrum (“pewter”), which is of uncertain origin. Possibly related to spelter.
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA