Pipe Named the Instrument Before the Plumbing
A pipe carries liquid, or is played by blowing. The musical sense came first.
A pipe is a tube for conveying liquid or gas, a musical wind instrument, or a device for smoking tobacco. The instrument came first: Latin *pipare* meant to chirp like a bird, and the earliest pipes were simple whistles. The plumbing sense borrowed the shape. That is why *to pipe up* means to speak, why a boatswain *pipes* the crew with a whistle, and why *piping hot* describes food that hisses and sings.
- A tube. *A water pipe.*
- A wind instrument. *Bagpipes.*
- A smoking pipe. *A briar pipe.*
- To speak up. *He piped up.*
- Latin — *pipare*, to chirp. *The root.*
Word forms
| Form | Word | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Noun | pipe | A pipe. |
| Verb | pipe | Piping. |
| Agent | piper | A piper. |
| Compound | bagpipes | Bagpipes. |
| Latin | pipare | To chirp. |
- The pipe burst in the frost.Plumbing.
- He played the pipes.Music.
- Piping hot soup.Idiom.
Pipe phrases
- Pipe up — start speaking, often unexpectedly
- Pipe down — stop making noise
- Piping hot — hot enough to hiss
- Pipe dream — a fantasy, from opium smoking
- Pay the piper — bear the cost of a choice
Old English *pipe*, from Latin *pipa*, from *pipare*, to chirp or peep.
Which pipe came first?
The musical one. The Latin root means to chirp, and the plumbing sense borrowed the tube shape later.
Where does pipe dream come from?
From the visions experienced while smoking an opium pipe, recorded in American English from the 1890s.