pipe English · revision 6237

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=before 1000|origins=la pipo}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ˈpaɪp/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|ang|pīpe|t=musical pipe; tube]],^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986)^(MWU 2024) an early West Germanic borrowing, like [[ofs|pīpe]], [[goh|pfīfa]] and [[nl|pijp]],^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986) of Vulgar Latin [[m|la-vul|*pīpa|t=pipe]], a back-formation from [[la|pipo|alt=pīpāre|t=to chirp, peep]], of imitative origin.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(Cresswell 2021) It was reinforced in Middle English by [[m|fro|pipe]].^(Hoad 1986)^(NODE 1998)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ A simple tubular wind instrument: before 1000 in Barnhart and the OED.^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989) Old English also used it for a tube carrying water.^(Etymonline)^(Cresswell 2021)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Etymonline says all the tube senses come from ''small reed, whistle''.^(Etymonline) A water pipe or conduit is from about 1250 in Barnhart,^(Barnhart 1988) a duct of the body from the late 14th century, and an organ pipe from the mid-15th century.^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989) The pipe for smoking tobacco is first recorded in 1594, as ''pipe of tobacco'';^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(Cresswell 2021) the voice, especially in singing, is from the 1570s.^(Etymonline) The verb, to whistle or peep, is from about 1250, in ''The Owl and the Nightingale'',^(Barnhart 1988) to play on a pipe from Old English pīpian,^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986) and to convey through pipes by 1887.^(Etymonline) ''Piping hot'' is in Chaucer, from the hissing of hot food.^(Etymonline) ''Put that in your pipe and smoke it'' is a later phrase.^(Cresswell 2021)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * before 1000 – a musical pipe.^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989)

+ * c. 1250 – a water pipe; to whistle.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * late 14th century – a duct of the body.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1594 – a tobacco pipe.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1887 – to convey through pipes.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A tube of metal, plastic or other material for carrying water, gas or oil.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # A device for smoking [[tobacco]], a tube with a small bowl at one end.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # A simple wind instrument, or, as ''the pipes'', the [[bagpipes]].^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # Any of the tubes of an [[organ]].^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ===Verb===

+ # To carry by pipe; to transmit sound or signals by wire: ''piped music''.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # To play a tune on a pipe, or make a shrill sound.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # To decorate with piping, as with icing or trimming.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[pipeful]]

+ * [[pipeless]]

+ * [[pipelike]]

+ * [[piper]]

+ * [[pipe down]]

+ * [[pipe up]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[piping]]

+ * [[bagpipe]]

+ * [[pipeline]]

+ * [[pipette]]

+ * [[fife]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ A second pipe, a large cask for wine holding two hogsheads, is from Old French pipe, from the same Vulgar Latin word (early 14th century).^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(SOED 2002)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}