pipe

pipe · noun, verb¹

1. Old English · inherited frompīpian“to pipe”
2. Middle English · inherited frompīpen
3. Portuguese · derived frompipa
4. Old French · derived frompipe“liquid measure”
5. Middle English · inherited frompīpe“large storage receptacle, particularly for wine; cask, vat; measure of volume”
6. Latin · derived frompipire
7. Vulgar Latin · derived from*pīpa
8. Proto-West Germanic · inherited from*pīpā
9. Old English · inherited frompīpe“pipe (musical instrument); the channel of a small stream”
10. Middle English · inherited frompīpe
11. English todaypipe

From Middle English pīpe, pype (“hollow cylinder or tube used as a conduit or container; duct or vessel of the body; musical instrument; financial records maintained by the English Exchequer, pipe roll”), from Old English pīpe (“pipe (musical instrument); the channel of a small stream”), from Proto-West Germanic *pīpā. Reinforced by Vulgar Latin *pīpa, from Latin pipire, pipiare, pipare, from pīpiō (“to chirp, peep”), of imitative origin. Displaced native Old English fealh and Old English þrūh. Doublet of fife. Cognate with Dutch pijp, German Pfeife, Danish pibe, Norwegian Bokmål and Norwegian Nynorsk pipe, Swedish pipa, Faroese and Icelandic pípa. 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. The verb is from Middle English pīpen, pypyn (“to play a pipe; to make a shrill sound; to speak with a high-pitched tone”), from Old English pīpian (“to pipe”).

Pipe · proper noun²

English surname, from the noun pipe.

First known use, by meaning

• from 10th c. A wind instrument consisting of a tube, often lined with holes to allow for adjustment in pitch, sounded by blowing into the tube.
• from 14th c. A tube used to produce sound in an organ; an organ pipe.
• from 16th c. The key or sound of the voice.
• from 18th c. A high-pitched sound, especially of a bird.
• from 10th c. A rigid tube that transports water, steam, or other fluid, as used in plumbing and numerous other applications.
• from 10th c. A water pipe.
• from 14th c. A tubular passageway in the human body such as a blood vessel or the windpipe.
• from 14th c. A large container for storing liquids or foodstuffs; now especially a vat or cask of cider or wine. (See a diagram comparing cask sizes.)