Talk:magnet
Could it, instead, come from PIE/Sankrit?
महालोह mahāloha n. great iron
महालोह mahāloha n. magnetic iron
(PIE) *m̥ǵh₂nós = great
(SANSKIT) maha = great
(GREEK) mégas = great
(LATIN) magnus = great
From Proto-Italic *magnos, from Proto-Indo-European *m̥ǵh₂nós, from *meǵh₂- (“great”). Confer with mactus. Cognates include Ancient Greek μέγας (mégas, “big, large”), Sanskrit मह (mahá, “great, mighty, strong, abundant”), Middle Persian ms (meh, “great”) (< *mas), (Persian مه (mih)), Avestan (maz-, “large”), Tocharian B māka (“large”), Hittite (mēkkis, “much, many, numerous”), Old Armenian մեծ (mec), Old Irish maige (“great, large”), Albanian madh (“large”) and Old English micel (English much).
Personally, I think that the etymology from the name of the city Magnesia is a folk-etymology.
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