aplomb

Pronunciation

• IPA: /əˈplɒm/, /əˈplʌm/^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from French aplomb (“self-possession, perpendicularity”),^[2][3] from Middle French à plomb (“according to the plummet”), that is, standing upright.^[3][4][5] French plomb (“lead weight”) is from Latin plumbum (“lead”), the metal of which the weight on a plumb line was made.^[6][2]

Earliest recorded meaning

Self-possession, assurance (1828).^[7][2][5]

Semantic evolution

The image is of someone standing perfectly straight, like a plumb line.^[2][5] English took over the figurative sense of poise first;^[7] the literal sense “perpendicularity” is recorded later, in 1872.^[7] Merriam-Webster dates the word to 1823.^[3]

Timeline

• 1823 – first date given by Merriam-Webster.^[3]
• 1828 – assurance, self-possession.^[7][2][5]
• 1872 – the perpendicular, perpendicularity.^[7]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. Calm self-confidence; poise.
2. The vertical position.

Related words

• plumb
• plumber
• plummet

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e Harper, Douglas, Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ a b c d Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
4. ^ Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary (1999), 2nd ed., New York: Random House
5. ^ a b c d Barnhart, Robert K., ed. (1995), The Barnhart Concise Dictionary of Etymology, New York: HarperCollins
6. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
7. ^ a b c d e Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press