plumb的词源
英文词源
- plumb
- plumb: [13] Plumb comes via Old French *plombe from Latin plumbum ‘lead’, a word of uncertain origin. Of its modern English uses, the verbal ‘sound the depths’ comes from the use of a line weighted with lead (a plumb line) to measure the depth of water and the adverbial ‘exactly’ from the use of a similar line to determine verticality. Related words in English include aplomb; plumber [14] (originally simply a ‘worker in lead’, but eventually, since water pipes were once made of lead, a ‘pipe-layer’); plummet [14] (a diminutive form coined in Old French); and plunge [14] (from the Vulgar Latin derivative *plumbicāre ‘sound with a plumb’).
=> aplomb, plumber, plummet, plunge - plumb (n.)
- "lead hung on a string to show the vertical line," early 14c., from Old French *plombe, plomee "sounding lead," and directly from Late Latin *plumba, originally plural of Latin plumbum "lead (the metal), lead ball; pipe; pencil," a word of unknown origin, related to Greek molybdos "lead" (dialectal bolimos) and perhaps from an extinct Mediterranean language, perhaps Iberian.
- plumb (v.)
- early 15c., "to sink" (like lead), from plumb (n.). Meaning "take soundings with a plumb" is first recorded 1560s; figurative sense of "to get to the bottom of" is from 1590s. Related: Plumbed; plumbing.
- plumb (adj.)
- "perpendicular, vertical," mid-15c., from plumb (n.). The notion of "exact measurement" led to extended sense of "completely, downright" (1748), sometimes spelled plump, plum, or plunk.
中文词源
plumb line指“铅垂线”，用以量度水深或检测墙壁是否垂直，而plumb则是悬挂于细线上的“铅垂”，它源于拉丁语plumbum‘lead’（铅）。plumb的派生词plumber指“管子工”，因为管子工的工作是和铅管打交道。另外，由于plumbline完全或绝对地与水平面相垂直，所以plumb作副词用时就被赋予“完全地”、“绝对地”、“恰恰”等义，常用于plumb mad，plumb crazy，plumb tired这些口头用语中。短语out of plumb或off plumb用以表示“不垂直的”，也就不难理解了。plumb还常用作动词，表示“探测”、“查明”，这一用法显然出自于plumb的探测功能。另一个英语单词plummet也指“铅垂”或“铅垂线”，也出自同一拉丁词源，作动词用时，词义就引申为“骤然跌落”或“垂直落下”。
该词的英语词源请访问趣词词源英文版：plumb 词源，plumb 含义。
plumb：铅，铅垂，使垂直，探索，钻研，恰好
来自拉丁语plumbum,铅，铅球，可能借自希腊语molybdos,铅，词源同molybdenum.后用于 指测量垂直度的铅球，铅锤，引申词义探索，钻研，以及副词词义恰好，正好等。
在古罗马，人们将铅块投入水中，以探测水深，铅块的落水声似"plumbum"，人们据此造出拉丁词plumbum（铅），所以铅的化学符号为Pb，是其缩写。单词plumb（铅锤；探测）和单词plunge（投入；跳入）都最终来自该词。所以可从拟声角度记忆。（该拟声观点有争议）
