plumbum

Meaning

1. (declension-2, neuter) lead (metal)
2. (declension-2, neuter) ball of lead
3. (declension-2, neuter, poetic) pipe of lead
4. (New-Latin, declension-2, neuter) pencil

Concepts

lead

pencil

📝

lead pipe

bullet

graphite

plumbum

Synonyms

molybdus

Translations

chumbo

plomo

plomb

Blei

piombo

plom

lood

kurşun

μόλυβδος

llapis

📝

رصاص

crayon

📝

matita

📝

Bleistift

📝

Pronounced as (IPA)

[ˈpɫʊm.bũː]

Etymology

Traditionally connected to Ancient Greek μόλυβδος (mólubdos, “lead”); however, this is repudiated by Beekes, who instead connects the Latin term to Proto-Celtic *ɸloudom (“lead”). De Vaan accepts this cognate pairing, but notes that the Latin and Celtic terms would have to be borrowed from a substrate language due to phonetic mismatches if the Latin were inherited directly from Proto-Indo-European *plowdʰo- (“lead”). Said substrate may be Etruscan, Iberian, or some other pre-Indo-European Mediterranean language; compare Proto-Berber *būldūn.