Etymologically
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lead

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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

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
  • 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