Etymologically
Log in

plumber

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 31 October 2026 at 21:42. This address is a permanent link to this version.
Changes in this edit History

Pronunciation

  • UK: /ˈplʌm.ə/[1]
  • US: /ˈplʌm.əɹ/[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English plumber, also plummer, plomer and plumer,[2][3] borrowed from Anglo-Norman plummer and Middle French plommier, also plombier,[4][5][6][3] now plombier.[4][5] The French word, recorded as plunmier in 1266, is formed from plom (“lead”), the source of plumb, with the suffix -ier.[4] Etymonline, Barnhart and the MED also see a direct borrowing borrowed from Latin plumbārius (“worker in lead”),[7][8][2] the noun use of an adjective meaning "of lead", from plumbum (“lead”).[7][6][3] The OED compares the Latin word, and the forms plomerius and plomarius used in British sources from 1286 and 1307, with Old Occitan plombier, Catalan plomer and Italian piombario.[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

A worker in lead: the OED's first record is from the Durham Abbey account rolls of 1385–6,[4] and Barnhart dates the form plumbiner to 1370.[8] The word is found much earlier as a surname, in Anglo-Norman form, in Godric Plumberre (1102–7), Arnaldus Plumber (1199) and Ric. le plumber (1230).[4][9][8]

Semantic evolution

A medieval plumber worked in lead of every kind, on roofs, gutters and pipes;[7][2] the MED also records a plumber hous, a building where lead was worked.[2] Johnson (1755) still defined the word as one who works upon lead, adding that it was commonly written and pronounced plummer.[10] In the 19th century the meaning narrowed to a workman who installs pipes and fittings, as lead pipes for water and gas became the main business of the trade.[7] Merriam-Webster's Book of Word Histories explains that the pipes and fixtures were called plumbing because they were often made of lead, and the man who fitted them a plumber.[11] In military slang of the Second World War a plumber was an armourer or engineering officer (1941).[4][12] In 1972 the name was given to a White House unit of the Nixon administration set up to stop "leaks" of government secrets,[4][7][12] and French took this sense of plombier from English in 1973.[4] American underworld slang used plumber for a hired killer from 1952.[13]

Timeline

  • 1102–7 – as a surname, Godric Plumberre.[4][9]
  • 1370 – a worker in lead, in the form plumbiner.[8] The OED's first record is from 1385–6.[4]
  • 1399–1400 – plummer, in a Ripon account.[2][8]
  • 1755 – Johnson's "one who works upon lead".[10]
  • 19th century – a workman who installs and repairs water and gas pipes.[7]
  • 1941 – military slang, an armourer or engineering officer.[4]
  • 1952 – American underworld slang, a hired killer.[13]
  • 1972 – a person employed to stop leaks of information from a government office.[4]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A person who fits and repairs the pipes, fixtures and appliances that carry water, drainage and gas in a building: We called a plumber when the boiler leaked.[14][3][4]
  2. (slang, originally US) A person employed to find or stop leaks of information from a government office, especially a member of the White House unit of the Watergate years.[4][12][7]
  3. (military slang) An armourer or engineering officer.[4][12]
  4. (obsolete) A dealer or worker in lead.[3][4][12]

Word family

  • plumbery
  • plumber's helper
  • plumber's snake

Usage notes

Merriam-Webster also enters a separate plumber, formed from plumb and -er, for a person who checks that the parts of a structure are vertical.[3]

References

  1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e Kurath, Hans; Kuhn, Sherman M.; Lewis, Robert E., eds. (1952–2001), Middle English Dictionary, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press; online edition ed. Frances McSparran et al. (2000–2018)
  3. ^ a b c d e f Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  5. ^ a b Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ a b Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
  7. ^ a b c d e f g Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  8. ^ a b c d e Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  9. ^ a b Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
  10. ^ a b Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
  11. ^ Merriam-Webster's Book of Word Histories, Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  12. ^ a b c d e Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  13. ^ a b Green, Jonathon (2010), Green's Dictionary of Slang, London: Chambers; digital ed. 2016–, https://greensdictofslang.com
  14. ^ Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins