English
pipe
Pipe comes from Middle English pīpe ‘a piece of tubing which string or rope is…’, and goes back to Latin pīpō ‘to pip, peep’.
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEpīpō‘to pip, peep’
- Vulgar Latinc. 100–700 CE*pīpareconstructed
- Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*pīpāreconstructed
- Old Englishc. 450–1150pīpe
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500same form‘a piece of tubing which string or rope is inserted into’
- Englishearliest quotation c. 1601–1602pipe
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEpīpō‘to pip, peep’
- Vulgar Latinc. 100–700 CE*pīpareconstructed
- Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*pīpāreconstructed
- Old Englishc. 450–1150pīpe
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500same form‘a piece of tubing which string or rope is inserted into’
- Englishearliest quotation c. 1601–1602pipe
Earliest quotation: c. 1601–1602, William Shakespeare, Twelfe Night, or What You Will: “For they ſhall yet belye thy happy yeeres, That…”
The story
Reinforced by Vulgar Latin *pīpa, from Latin pipire, pipiare, pipare, from pīpiō (‘to chirp, peep’), of imitative origin. The “storage container” and “liquid measure” senses are derived from Middle English pīpe (‘large storage receptacle, particularly for wine; cask, vat; measure of volume’), from pīpe (above) and Old French pipe (‘liquid measure’). In specific contexts, calques similar units of measure such as Portuguese pipa.
Linked words
through Proto-West Germanic *pīpā
Today it means
noun A wind instrument consisting of a tube, often lined with holes to allow for adjustment in pitch, sounded by blowing into the tube.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Latin pīpō / pipe