A Leak of Information Borrows a Plumbing Word
A leak is an unintended escape of liquid. Journalism took the word for unauthorised disclosure.
A leak is an unintended escape of liquid or gas through a hole, and also an unauthorised disclosure of information. The information sense is recorded from the 1800s and the metaphor is exact: a leak is involuntary, hard to trace and difficult to stop once started. That is why the language around it stays plumbing — *plugging a leak*, *springing a leak*, a *leaky* department. To *spring a leak* comes from ships, where a plank sprung from its fastening let water in.
- An escape of fluid. *A gas leak.*
- A disclosure. *A leak to the press.*
- To escape. *The roof leaks.*
- Spring a leak — start leaking. *Sprang a leak.*
- Middle Dutch — *leken*. *The source.*
Word forms
| Form | Word | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Noun | leak | A leak. |
| Plural | leaks | Leaks. |
| Verb | leak | Leaking. |
| Adjective | leaky | Leaky. |
| Middle Dutch | leken | To drip. |
- The pipe had a slow leak.Plumbing.
- The report was leaked.Information.
- The boat sprang a leak.Nautical.
Plumbing metaphors for information
- Leak — an involuntary escape
- Plug a leak — stop the source
- A flood of documents — a very large disclosure
- Drip-feed — releasing information slowly on purpose
- The metaphor holds because both are hard to trace and stop
Middle Dutch *leken*, to drip or leak, entering English in the 1400s.
Where does spring a leak come from?
From ships, where a plank sprung from its fastening allowed water in. The word for the movement named the result.
How old is leak meaning a disclosure?
It is recorded from the 1800s, borrowing the plumbing image for information escaping without authorisation.