lead

Two different Old English words have come together in the spelling lead, with different pronunciations.^[1]

Pronunciation

• IPA: guide /liːd/; metal /led/^[2]

lead¹ guide

Etymology

To guide is inherited from Middle English leden, inherited from Old English lǣdan (“to cause to go with oneself, go before as a guide”),^[3][4][5] from Proto-Germanic *laidijaną,^[4][3] a causative of the verb seen in Old English līþan (“to travel, go”).^[3][6][7] Its cognates include Old Frisian lēda, Old Saxon lēdian, Dutch leiden, German leiten and Old Norse leiða.^[4][3][5] Watkins derives it from Proto-Indo-European *leit- (“to go forth”).^[3][8] It is related to load and lode.^[5][9][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

To bring or take a person or animal to a place: Old English lǣdan, before 725^[4] or about 825.^[10] Middle English leden is from 1125.^[4]

Semantic evolution

Old English lǣdan also meant “to carry on, pass one's life”, as in lead a life.^[3][11] Of roads, “to go toward”, it is from about 1200.^[3] “To be in first place” is from the late 14th century,^[3] first in lead the dance.^[11] The noun, “the action of leading”, is from about 1300,^[3][10] and “the front or leading place” from the 1560s,^[3] or 1570;^[10] Johnson called it “a low, despicable word”.^[3] In card games the right to play first is from 1742,^[3] a clue to the solution of something from 1851,^[10] and the chief role in a play later still.^[12] In journalism the opening summary of a news story is from 1912 according to Etymonline, often spelled lede,^[3] or 1927 according to the OED.^[10] Lead someone by the nose is from the late 16th century.^[1]

Timeline

• before 725 – Old English lǣdan.^[4]
• c. 1200 – of roads.^[3]
• c. 1300 – noun, the act of leading.^[3]
• late 14th century – to be in first place.^[3]
• 1560s – noun, the front place.^[3]
• 1742 – the lead in cards.^[3]
• 1851 – a clue.^[10]
• 1912 – the lead of a news story.^[3]

Modern meaning

Verb

1. To show the way by going in front; to guide.
2. To serve as a route: the road leads to town.
3. To direct or command; to be at the head of.
4. To be first or ahead.
5. To pass or live: lead a quiet life.
6. To tend toward a result: leads to trouble.
7. To make the first play in a card game.

Noun

1. The first or foremost position; the margin by which one is ahead.
2. Leadership; an example to follow.
3. A clue or tip.
4. The main role in a play or film, or the actor who plays it.
5. The opening of a news story.
6. A leash for a dog; a wire carrying electric current.

Word family

• leader
• leading
• misled
• mislead
• led

lead² metal

Etymology

The metal is inherited from Middle English led, inherited from Old English lēad (“lead, leaden vessel”),^[4][3][5] from Proto-West Germanic *lauda-,^[3][11][5] a word of uncertain origin.^[3] Its cognates include Old Frisian lād, Dutch lood and German Lot (“plummet, solder”).^[4][3][5] Etymonline, Barnhart and Klein think the name and the skill of working the metal were borrowed from the Celts, comparing Old Irish luaide (“lead”).^[3][4][6][8]

Earliest recorded meaning

The metal: Old English lēad, about 750, in Cynewulf's Juliana,^[4] or about 900.^[10]

Semantic evolution

The metal was used figuratively for heaviness, dullness and colour from before 1300.^[10] Objects made of lead, such as a seal or a plummet, are leads from 1340.^[10] Black lead, graphite, is from 1567, and pencil lead is short for it.^[10] The verb “to make of lead” is from the early 15th century, and “to cover with lead” from the mid-15th.^[3] In printing a lead is a thin strip of metal for spacing lines, from 1841.^[3]

Timeline

• c. 750 – Old English lēad (Cynewulf).^[4]
• 1340 – objects made of lead.^[10]
• early 15th century – verb, to make of lead.^[3]
• 1567 – black lead.^[10]
• 1841 – a printer's lead.^[3]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. A soft, heavy, bluish-grey metallic element, symbol Pb.
2. Graphite in a pencil.
3. A weight on a line for sounding the depth of water.
4. (printing) A thin strip of metal for spacing lines of type.
5. Bullets; shot.

Verb

1. To cover, line or weight with lead.
2. To secure window glass with strips of lead.

Adjective

1. Made of lead.

Word family

• leaden
• unleaded
• leaded

Related words

• load
• lode

References

1. ^ a b c Cresswell, Julia (2021), Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
2. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z 27 28 Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
5. ^ a b c d e f Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ a b Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
7. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
8. ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (2000), 4th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
9. ^ Soanes, Catherine; Stevenson, Angus, eds. (2004), Concise Oxford English Dictionary, 11th ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
10. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
11. ^ a b c Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
12. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin