plombier

Forms

plombier m (plural plombiers, feminine plombière)^[1] First recorded as plunmier (1266); plombier is found in 1425.^[2][3][4] The feminine plombière is rare, though it is recommended in Quebec.^[5][4]

Etymology

It is formed from French plomb + -ier.^[2][3][5][6] Wiktionary allows another route as well, through Old French plummier from Latin plumbārius.^[1] The base noun comes from Latin plumbum (“lead”).^[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

In the charter of 1266 that first records it, plunmier is a man who sells or works lead.^[2][4]

Semantic evolution

The old sense of a worker in lead, still Littré's first definition,^[8] narrowed in the 19th century to the craftsman who installs and repairs water and gas pipes and sanitary fittings;^[2][4] plombier-zingueur is recorded in 1841.^[2][4] The adjective plombier, plombière “of the nature of lead” (pierre plombière, 1562) has gone out of use.^[2][6]

In 1973 plombier came to mean a secret agent who plants listening devices, a use spread by the Watergate affair, whose burglars passed themselves off as workmen.^[2][4] During the debates of 2005 on work within the European Union, the plombier polonais became the type of the cheap foreign worker.^[4]

Timeline

• 1266 – Plunmier, a seller or worker of lead, in a charter cited by Godefroy.^[2]
• 1425 – The form plombier appears in accounts from Rouen.^[2]
• 1562 – Du Pinet uses the adjective in pierre plombière.^[2][6]
• 1841 – Plombier-zingueur is recorded.^[2][4]
• 1973 – L'Express uses it for a specialist in illegal phone tapping.^[2]
• 2005 – The plombier polonais becomes a byword in the European debates.^[4]

Meanings

Noun

1. A plumber, who installs and repairs water and gas pipes and sanitary equipment: il faut appeler le plombier pour cette fuite.^[5][2]
2. Plombier-zingueur: a plumber who also does zinc roofing work.^[5][2]
3. (familiar) A secret agent who plants bugs or listening devices.^[5][2]

Related words

• plomb
• plomberie
• plomber
• Latin plumbum

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Trésor de la langue française informatisé (2004), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/tlfi; electronic version of Imbs, Paul; Quemada, Bernard, eds. (1971–1994), Trésor de la langue française, Paris: CNRS / Gallimard
3. ^ a b Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
5. ^ a b c d e Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
6. ^ a b c Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
7. ^ Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
8. ^ Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette