Etymologically
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plunge

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Pronunciation

  • /plʌnd͡ʒ/[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English plungen, also plongen,[2][3][4] borrowed from Anglo-Norman plunger, also plungier,[5][6] and plongier,[5][7][8][9] now plonger.[5][8] The Old French verb is recorded from about 1130 for jumping into water, and by 1135 for submerging.[5] It comes from Vulgar Latin *plumbicō (“to throw a leaded line, heave the lead”),[5][7][10][9][11] not itself recorded,[5][11] formed from Latin plumbum (“lead”) and a verbal suffix.[5] Etymonline thinks the original idea was a sounding lead or a net weighted with lead,[7] and Klein glosses the verb as "to immerse fishing nets weighted with lead".[4] Skeat compares Italian piombare (“to fall heavily like lead”), from piombo (“lead”).[12][13] The word is related to plumb, plumber and plummet.[14][7] The noun was formed from the verb.[5][7][15]

Earliest recorded meaning

To thrust, throw or drop into a liquid; to immerse; and also to dive or fall into water: about 1380, in the romance Sir Ferumbras.[5][9]

Semantic evolution

Already in Middle English it meant to baptize by immersion and to cast someone into a state such as despair or sin.[2][7] The idea of a sudden headlong movement gave the sense of a horse pitching forward (about 1507, in Dunbar);[5] from 1726 it also meant to rush recklessly ahead.[5] The noun first meant a deep pool (about 1450),[5][7] then a sudden lurch (1496) and, figuratively, a critical point or strait (1519), as in put to a plunge;[5][7][16] Johnson (1755) defined it both as an act of sinking under water and as a difficulty or distress.[16] The act of diving into water is recorded from 1615 in the OED, but only from 1711 in Etymonline and Barnhart.[5][7][9] From the decisive step came take the plunge (the noun in this sense from 1702), which Etymonline thinks owed its popularity to The Vicar of Wakefield (1766).[5][7] In the 1870s the verb meant to bet or speculate recklessly.[17] Since 1870 a price can plunge, drop sharply.[5]

Timeline

  • c. 1380 – to thrust into a liquid; to dive or fall into water.[5]
  • c. 1450 – noun, a deep pool (obsolete by 1847).[5]
  • 1496 – noun, a sudden violent movement, a lurch.[5]
  • ?1507 – of a horse, to pitch forward.[5]
  • 1519 – noun, a critical situation, a strait.[5]
  • 1615 – noun, a dive or fall into water.[5]
  • 1679 – to sink a potted plant in the ground.[5]
  • 1702 – noun, a decisive step, as in to take the plunge.[5]
  • 1726 – to rush forward recklessly.[5]
  • 1842 – to slope steeply downward.[5]
  • 1870 – of a price, to fall sharply.[5]
  • 1875 – slang, to bet or speculate heavily.[17]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To thrust or throw something forcefully into a liquid or other substance: He plunged the hot pan into cold water.[3][11][5]
  2. To dive or jump into water, or to fall from a height: The children plunged into the river.[5][11][3]
  3. To bring someone or something suddenly into a state or condition: The storm plunged the town into darkness.[11][3]
  4. To throw oneself eagerly into an activity.[11][3]
  5. To rush or move headlong; of a ship or horse, to pitch forward and down.[11][3][5]
  6. To slope or fall steeply; of a price or value, to drop sharply.[11][5][3]
  7. (informal) To bet or speculate recklessly.[11][17][3]

Noun

  1. A dive or sudden fall, especially into water.[11][3][5]
  2. A sudden steep drop, as in prices.[11][5]
  3. A place for diving or swimming; a plunge pool.[3][5]
  4. take the plunge: to commit oneself to a risky or decisive course.[11][5][7]
  5. (archaic) A difficult or critical situation; a strait.[5][16]

Word family

  • replunge
  • unplunged
  • plunge pool
  • plumb
  • plumber
  • plummet
  • plunger
  • aplomb

References

  1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b 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 g h i j Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  4. ^ a b Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
  5. ^ 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 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  6. ^ Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  8. ^ a b Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  9. ^ a b c d Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  10. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
  11. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
  12. ^ Skeat, Walter W. (1911), A Concise Etymological Dictionary of the English Language, new ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
  13. ^ Weekley, Ernest (1921), An Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, London: John Murray
  14. ^ Ayto, John (2005), Word Origins: The Secret Histories of English Words from A to Z, 2nd ed., London: A & C Black
  15. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  16. ^ a b c Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
  17. ^ a b c Green, Jonathon (2010), Green's Dictionary of Slang, London: Chambers; digital ed. 2016–, https://greensdictofslang.com