1750.—"A sort of Cash made of Toothenague is the only Currency of the Country."—Some Ac. of Cochin China, by Mr. Robert Kirsop, in Dalrymple, Or. Rep. i. 245.
[1757.—Speaking of the freemen enrolled at Nottingham in 1757, Bailey (Annals of Nottinghamshire, iii. 1235) mentions as one of them William Tutin, buckle-maker, and then goes on to say: "It was a son of this latter person who was the inventor of that beautiful composite white metal, the introduction of which created such a change in numerous articles of ordinary table service in England. This metal, in honour of the inventor, was called Tutinic, but which word, by one of the most absurd perversions of language ever known, became transferred into 'Tooth and Egg,' the name by which it was almost uniformly recognised in the shops."—Quoted in 2 ser. N. & Q. x. 144.]
1780.—"At Quedah, there is a trade for calin (see [CALAY]) or tutenague ... to export to different parts of the Indies."—Dunn, New Directory, 5th ed. 338.
1797.—"Tu-te-nag is, properly speaking, zinc, extracted from a rich ore or calamine; the ore is powdered and mixed with charcoal dust, and placed in earthen jars over a slow fire, by means of which the metal rises in form of vapour, in a common distilling apparatus, and afterwards is condensed in water."—Staunton's Acct. of Lord Macartney's Embassy, 4to ed. ii. 540.
TOPAZ, TOPASS, &c., s. A name used in the 17th and 18th centuries for dark-skinned or half-caste claimants of Portuguese descent, and Christian profession. Its application is generally, though not universally, to soldiers of this class, and it is possible that it was originally a corruption of Pers. (from Turkish) top-chī, 'a gunner.' It may be a slight support to this derivation that Italians were employed to cast guns for the Zamorin at Calicut from a very early date in the 16th century, and are frequently mentioned in the annals of Correa between 1503 and 1510. Various other etymologies have however been given. That given by Orme below (and put forward doubtfully by Wilson) from topī, 'a hat,' has a good deal of plausibility, and even if the former etymology be the true origin, it is probable that this one was often in the minds of those using the term, as its true connotation. It may have some corroboration not only in the fact that Europeans are to this day often spoken of by natives (with a shade of disparagement) as [Topeewalas] (q.v.) or 'Hat-men,' but also in the pride commonly taken by all persons claiming European blood in wearing a hat; indeed Fra Paolino tells us that this class call themselves gente de chapeo (see also the quotation below from Ovington). Possibly however this was merely a misrendering of topaz from the assumed etymology. The same Fra Paolino, with his usual fertility in error, propounds in another passage that topaz is a corruption of do-bhāshiya, 'two-tongued' (in fact is another form of [Dubash], q.v.), viz. using Portuguese and a debased vernacular (pp. 50 and 144). [The Madras Gloss. assumes Mal. tópáshi to be a corruption of dubash.] The Topaz on board ship is the sweeper, who is at sea frequently of this class.
1602.—"The 12th ditto we saw to seaward another Champaigne ([Sampan]) wherein were 20 men, Mestiços (see [MUSTEES]) and Toupas."—Van Spilbergen's Voyage, p. 34, pub. 1648.
[1672.—"Toepasses." See under [MADRAS].]
1673.—"To the Fort then belonged 300 English, and 400 Topazes, or Portugal Firemen."—Fryer, 66. In his glossarial Index he gives "Topazes, Musketeers."
1680.—"It is resolved and ordered to entertain about 100 Topasses, or Black Portuguese, into pay."—In Wheeler, i. 121.
1686.—"It is resolved, as soon as English soldiers can be provided sufficient for the garrison, that all Topasses be disbanded, and no more entertained, since there is little dependence on them."—In ditto, 159.