plug

Pronunciation

• IPA: /plʌɡ/^[1]

Etymology

It is probably borrowed from Dutch plug, from plugge (“bung, stopper”),^[2][3][4] originally a seamen's term,^[3] cognate with Middle Low German pluck and German Pflock (“peg”), all of uncertain or unknown origin.^[3][5][6] The Irish and Gaelic words are said to come from English.^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

A piece of wood or other material used to stop a hole: 1627, in Captain John Smith's Seaman's Grammar;^[2][7] MWU dates it to 1606.^[4]

Semantic evolution

A hydrant or branch pipe for attaching a hose is by 1727, and a wad of tobacco from 1728.^[3] A stopper for a sink waste pipe is from 1860.^[7] The electrical plug is from 1883, and a sparking plug in an engine from 1886.^[3] An advertisement, a piece of publicity, is American, first recorded in George Ade (1902).^[2][3] The verb, to stop with a plug, is from the 1620s,^[3] to work energetically at from about 1865, and to shoot someone, slang, from 1870.^[3] To promote by repetition is from 1906.^[3]

Timeline

• 1606 – first use (MWU).^[4]
• 1627 – a stopper.^[2][7]
• 1728 – a plug of tobacco.^[3]
• 1883 – an electrical plug.^[3]
• 1902 – an advertisement.^[2][3]
• 1906 – to promote.^[3]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. An object used to block a hole, especially in a sink or bath.
2. A device with metal pins that fits into a socket to connect an appliance to the electricity supply.
3. A spark plug.
4. (informal) A piece of publicity promoting a product or event.
5. A cake of pressed tobacco, or a piece cut from it for chewing.

Verb

1. To block or fill a hole.
2. (informal) To promote by mentioning repeatedly.
3. (plug in) To connect to an electricity supply.
4. (plug away) To work steadily.

Word family

• plugger
• pluggable
• pluggingly
• plugless
• pluglike
• earplug
• fireplug
• plugboard

Related words

• plughole
• spark plug
• unplug

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b c Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
5. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ a b c Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press