English
plummet
Plummet comes from Middle English plommet ‘ball of lead, plumb of a bob-line’.
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500plommet‘ball of lead, plumb of a bob-line’
- Englishearliest quotation 1610–1611plummet
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Earlier history uncertain.
Lineage
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500plommet‘ball of lead, plumb of a bob-line’
- Englishearliest quotation 1610–1611plummet
Earliest quotation: 1610–1611, William Shakespeare, The Tempest: “I'le ſeeke him deeper than ere plummet ſounded, /…”
first attested The verb is first recorded in 1626, originally meaning “to fathom, take soundings", from the noun (as stated in the etymology)
Linked words
through Proto-Celtic *ɸloudom ‘lead’
through Ancient Greek μόλυβδος ‘lead’
through Latin plumbum ‘lead’
Today it means
noun A piece of lead attached to a line, used in sounding the depth of water; a plumb bob or a plumb line.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Middle English plommet / plummet