A Plumber Is Named After Lead
A plumber installs and repairs pipes. The name comes from the Latin for lead, which is what the pipes used to be made of.
A plumber works on water and drainage systems. The name records the material: Latin *plumbum* means lead, the metal Roman and later pipes were made from, and the same root gives *plumb line* — a lead weight on a string — and the chemical symbol Pb. Lead pipes are long gone from new work, but the word stayed.
- Someone who fits and repairs pipes. *Call a plumber.*
- Plumbing — the pipework, or the trade. *The plumbing is original.*
Word forms
| Form | Word | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Noun | plumber | An emergency plumber. |
| Plural | plumbers | Two plumbers. |
| Noun | plumbing | New plumbing. |
| Related | plumb line | Check it with a plumb line. |
| Related | plumb | Plumb the depths. |
How it is used in a sentence
- The plumber replaced the whole run of pipe.The trade.
- The wall is not quite plumb.Meaning not vertical.
- She plumbed the depths of the archive.Figurative: searched thoroughly.
Words from lead
- Plumber — worker in lead, then in pipes
- Plumbing — the system of pipes
- Plumb line — a lead weight used to find the vertical
- Plumb — exactly vertical, or to measure depth
- Pb — the chemical symbol, from *plumbum*
From Latin *plumbarius*, a worker in lead, from *plumbum*, lead. English took it through Old French in the fourteenth century.
Why is the symbol for lead Pb?
From the Latin *plumbum*. Several elements known in antiquity keep Latin-based symbols, including iron as Fe and gold as Au.
Are lead pipes still in use?
Some old supply pipes remain in older properties in many countries. Replacement programmes continue because lead is harmful even at low levels.