lead

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English

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Chemical element
Pb
Previous: thallium (Tl)
Next: bismuth (Bi)

Etymology 1

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From Middle English led, leed, from Old English lēad (“lead”), from Proto-West Germanic *laud (“lead”), possibly borrowed from Proto-Celtic *ɸloudom, from Proto-Indo-European *plewd- (“to flow”).

Cognate with Scots leid, lede (“lead”), North Frisian lud, luad (“lead”), West Frisian lead (“lead”), Dutch lood (“lead”), German Lot (“solder, plummet, sounding line”), Swedish lod (“lead”), Icelandic lóð (“a plumb, weight”), Irish luaidhe (“lead”) Latin plumbum (“lead”), Finnish luoti (“bullet”). Doublet of loth. More at flow.

  • (graphite in a pencil): Graphite was once believed to be a form of lead; see black lead and plumbago.

Alternative forms

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Pronunciation

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Noun

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lead (countable and uncountable, plural leads)

Electrolytically refined pure lead
  2. (uncountable) A heavy, pliable, inelastic metal element, having a bright, bluish color, but easily tarnished; both malleable and ductile, though with little tenacity. It is easily fusible, forms alloys with other metals, and is an ingredient of solder and type metal. Atomic number 82, symbol Pb (from Latin plumbum).
    Synonym: plumbum
  3. (countable, nautical) A plummet or mass of lead attached to a line, used in sounding depth at sea or (dated) to estimate velocity in knots.
  4. A thin strip of type metal, used to separate lines of type in printing.
  5. (uncountable, typography) Vertical space in advance of a row or between rows of text. Also known as leading.
    This copy has too much lead; I prefer less space between the lines.
  6. Sheets or plates of lead used as a covering for roofs.
  7. (countable) A roof covered with lead sheets or terne plates.
    • 1625, Francis [Bacon], “Of Building”, in The Essayes […], 3rd edition, London: […] Iohn Haviland for Hanna Barret, →OCLC:
      I would have the tower two stories, and goodly leads upon the top.
    • 1848 November – 1850 December, William Makepeace Thackeray, The History of Pendennis. […], volume (please specify |volume=I or II), London: Bradbury and Evans, […], published 1849–1850, →OCLC:
      These rooms were on a level with the apartments of our friends Bows and Costigan next door at No. 4; and by reaching over the communicating leads, Grady could command the mignonette-box which bloomed in Bows’s window.
  8. (countable) A thin cylinder of graphite used in pencils.
    Synonym: pencil lead
  9. (slang) bullets; ammunition.
    They pumped him full of lead.
  10. (medicine, in the plural) X-ray protective clothing lined with lead.
    You must remember to wear your leads.
Derived terms
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terms derived from the noun "lead"


Translations
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See lead/translations § Etymology 1.

Verb

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lead (third-person singular simple present leads, present participle leading, simple past and past participle leaded)

  2. (transitive) To cover, fill, or affect with lead.
    continuous firing leads the grooves of a rifle.
  3. (transitive, printing, historical) To place leads between the lines of.
    to lead a page
    leaded matter
Translations
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See lead/translations § Etymology 1.

See also

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terms related to the element lead

Further reading

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  • David Barthelmy (1997–2024) “Lead”, in Webmineral Mineralogy Database.
  • “lead”, in Mindat.org‎[1], Hudson Institute of Mineralogy, 2000–2024.
  • lead on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

Etymology 2

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English Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia

From Middle English leden, from Old English lǣdan (“to lead”), from Proto-West Germanic *laidijan, from Proto-Germanic *laidijaną (“to cause one to go, lead”), causative of Proto-Germanic *līþaną (“to go”), from Proto-Indo-European *leyt- (“to leave, die”).

Cognate with West Frisian liede (“to lead”), Dutch leiden (“to lead”), German leiten (“to lead”), Danish and Norwegian Bokmål lede (“to lead”), Norwegian Nynorsk leia (“to lead”), Swedish leda (“to lead”). Related to Old English līþan (“to go, travel”).

Alternative forms

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Pronunciation

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Verb

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lead (third-person singular simple present leads, present participle leading, simple past and past participle led)

  2. (heading, transitive) To guide or conduct.
    1. To guide or conduct with the hand, or by means of some physical contact connection.
      a father leads a child    a jockey leads a horse with a halter    a dog leads a blind man
    2. To guide or conduct in a certain course, or to a certain place or end, by making the way known; to show the way, especially by going with or going in advance of, to lead a pupil; to guide somebody somewhere or to bring somebody somewhere by means of instructions.
      The guide was able to lead the tourists through the jungle safely.
    3. (figuratively): To direct; to counsel; to instruct
      A good teacher should lead their students to the right answer.
    4. To conduct or direct with authority; to have direction or charge of; to command, especially a military or business unit.
      to lead a political party
      to lead the search team
      • 1664, Robert South, “(please specify the sermon number)A Sermon Preached Before the University at Christ-Church, Oxon”, in Sermons Preached upon Several Occasions. […], new edition, volume (please specify |volume=I to IV), London: […] Thomas Tegg, […], published 1843, →OCLC:
        Christ took not upon him flesh and blood that he might conquer and rule nations, lead armies, or possess places.
        The spelling has been modernized.
    5. To guide or conduct oneself in, through, or along (a certain course); hence, to proceed in the way of; to follow the path or course of; to pass; to spend. Also, to cause (one) to proceed or follow in (a certain course).
      The evidence leads me to believe he is guilty.
  3. (intransitive) To guide or conduct, as by accompanying, going before, showing, influencing, directing with authority, etc.; to have precedence or preeminence; to be first or chief; — used in most of the senses of the transitive verb.
  4. (heading) To begin, to be ahead.
    1. (transitive) To go or to be in advance of; to precede; hence, to be foremost or chief among.
      the big sloop led the fleet of yachts;  the Guards led the attack;  Demosthenes leads the orators of all ages
    2. (intransitive) To lead off or out, to go first; to begin.
    3. (intransitive) To be more advanced in technology or business than others.
    4. (heading, sports)
      1. (transitive, card games, dominoes) To begin a game, round, or trick, with
        to lead trumps
        He led the ace of spades.
      2. (intransitive) To be ahead of others, e.g., in a race.
      3. (intransitive) To have the highest interim score in a game.
      4. (baseball) To step off base and move towards the next base.
        The batter always leads off base.
      5. (shooting) To aim in front of a moving target, in order that the shot may hit the target as it passes.
      6. (transitive, climbing) Lead climb.
  5. (transitive) To draw or direct by influence, whether good or bad; to prevail on; to induce; to entice; to allure
    to lead someone to a righteous cause
  6. (intransitive) To tend or reach in a certain direction, or to a certain place.
    the path leads to the mill;  gambling leads to other vices
    • c. 1590–1591 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Two Gentlemen of Verona”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act V, scene ii]:
      The mountain-foot that leads towards Mantua.
    • 2013 August 10, “Can China clean up fast enough?”, in The Economist, volume 408, number 8848:
      All this has led to an explosion of protest across China, including among a middle class that has discovered nimbyism. That worries the government, which fears that environmental activism could become the foundation for more general political opposition. It is therefore dealing with pollution in two ways—suppression and mitigation.
  7. To produce. [with to]
    The shock led to a change in his behaviour.
    • 2013 August 3, “Yesterday’s fuel”, in The Economist, volume 408, number 8847:
      The dawn of the oil age was fairly recent. Although the stuff was used to waterproof boats in the Middle East 6,000 years ago, extracting it in earnest began only in 1859 after an oil strike in Pennsylvania. […] It was used to make kerosene, the main fuel for artificial lighting after overfishing led to a shortage of whale blubber. Other liquids produced in the refining process, too unstable or smoky for lamplight, were burned or dumped.
  8. Misspelling of led.
  9. (transitive) To live or experience (a particular way of life).
Derived terms
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Translations
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See lead/translations § Etymology 2.

Noun

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English Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia

lead (countable and uncountable, plural leads)

  1. (countable) The act of leading or conducting; guidance; direction, course
    to take the lead
    to be under the lead of another
    • 1796, Edmund Burke, A Letter from the Right Honourable Edmund Burke to a Noble Lord, on the Attacks Made upon Him and His Pension, […], 10th edition, London: […] J. Owen, […], and F[rancis] and C[harles] Rivington, […], →OCLC:
      At the time I speak of, and having a momentary lead, […] I am sure I did my country important service.
  2. (countable) Precedence; advance position; also, the measure of precedence; the state of being ahead in a race; the highest score in an incomplete game.
    the white horse had the lead.
    to be in the lead
    She lost the lead.
    Smith managed to extend her lead over the second place to half a second.
    • 2010 December 28, Kevin Darlin, “West Brom 1 – 3 Blackburn”, in BBC Sport‎[2]:
      Blackburn then regained the lead with a simplest of set-piece goals
  3. (UK, countable) An insulated metallic wire for electrical devices and equipment.
  4. (baseball) The situation where a runner steps away from a base while waiting for the pitch to be thrown.
    The runner took his lead from first.
  5. (uncountable, card games, dominoes) The act or right of playing first in a game or round; the card suit, or piece, so played
    your partner has the lead
  6. (acting, theater) The main role in a play or film; the lead role.
    • 1932, Delos W. Lovelace, King Kong, published 1965, page 43:
      "You make moving pictures. In jungles and places." "That's me. And I've picked you for the lead in my next picture."
  7. (acting) The actor who plays the main role; lead actor.
  8. (business) The person in charge of a project or a work shift etc.
    John is the development lead on this software product.
  9. (countable) A channel of open water in an ice field.
  10. (countable, mining) A lode.
  11. (nautical) The course of a rope from end to end.
  13. A rope, leather strap, or similar device with which to lead an animal; a leash
  14. In a steam engine, the width of port opening which is uncovered by the valve, for the admission or release of steam, at the instant when the piston is at end of its stroke.
    • Usage note: When used alone it means outside lead, or lead for the admission of steam. Inside lead refers to the release or exhaust.
  15. (civil engineering) The distance of haul, as from a cutting to an embankment.
  16. (horology) The action of a tooth, such as a tooth of a wheel, in impelling another tooth or a pallet.
  17. Hypothesis that has not been pursued
    The investigation stalled when all leads turned out to be dead ends.
  18. Information obtained by a detective or police officer that allows him or her to discover further details about a crime or incident.
    The police have a couple of leads they will follow to solve the case.
  19. (marketing) Potential opportunity for a sale or transaction, a potential customer.
    Joe is a great addition to our sales team, he has numerous leads in the paper industry.
  20. Information obtained by a news reporter about an issue or subject that allows him or her to discover more details.
  21. (curling) The player who throws the first two rocks for a team.
  23. (US, journalism) The introductory paragraph or paragraphs of a newspaper, or a news or other type of article. (Sometimes spelled as lede for this usage to avoid ambiguity.)
  24. An important news story that appears on the front page of a newspaper or at the beginning of a news broadcast
  25. (engineering) The axial distance a screw thread travels in one revolution. It is equal to the pitch times the number of starts.
  26. (music) In a barbershop quartet, the person who sings the melody, usually the second tenor
  27. (music) The announcement by one voice part of a theme to be repeated by the other parts.
  28. (music) A mark or a short passage in one voice part, as of a canon, serving as a cue for the entrance of others.
  29. (engineering) The excess above a right angle in the angle between two consecutive cranks, as of a compound engine, on the same shaft.
  30. (electrical) The angle between the line joining the brushes of a continuous-current dynamo and the diameter symmetrical between the poles.
  31. (electrical) The advance of the current phase in an alternating circuit beyond that of the electromotive force producing it.
Derived terms
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terms derived from the noun lead
Translations
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See lead/translations § Etymology 2.

Adjective

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lead (not comparable)

  1. (not comparable) Foremost.
    The contestants are all tied; no one has the lead position.
    • 2006, Ronald Mak, The Martian Principles for Successful Enterprise Systems:
      For the first time ever, the senior architect and lead developer for a key enterprise system on NASA's ongoing Mars Exploration Rover mission shares the secrets to one of the most difficult technology tasks […]
    Synonyms: first, front, head, leader, leading
  2. Main, principal, primary, first, chief, foremost.
    the lead guitarist in band
    the lead developer on a software project
    • 2017 August 25, "Arrest threat as Yingluck Shinawatra misses verdict", in aljazeera.com, Al Jazeera:
      Yingluck Shinawatra, Thailand's ex-prime minister, has missed a verdict in a negligence trial that could have seen her jailed, prompting the Supreme Court to say it will issue an arrest warrant fearing she is a flight risk, according to the lead judge in the case.
Derived terms
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Etymology 3

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Verb

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lead

  1. Misspelling of led.

References

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Anagrams

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Hungarian

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Etymology

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le- +‎ ad

Pronunciation

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  • IPA(key): [ˈlɛɒd]
  • Hyphenation: le‧ad
  • Rhymes: -ɒd

Verb

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lead

  1. (transitive) to pass down, hand down, turn in, drop off
  2. (transitive) to lose weight, usually as a result of some kind of training or exercise

Conjugation

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conjugation of lead
Click for archaic forms 1st person sg 2nd person sg
informal 		3rd person sg,
2nd p. sg formal 		1st person pl 2nd person pl
informal 		3rd person pl,
2nd p. pl formal


Indica­tive
mood 		Pre­sent Indef. leadok leadsz lead leadunk leadtok leadnak
Def. leadom leadod leadja leadjuk leadjátok leadják
2nd-p. o. leadlak ―
Past Indef. leadtam leadtál leadott leadtunk leadtatok leadtak
Def. leadtam leadtad leadta leadtuk leadtátok leadták
2nd-p. o. leadtalak ―
Future Future is expressed with a present-tense verb with a completion-marking prefix and/or a time adverb, or—more explicitly—with the infinitive plus the conjugated auxiliary verb fog, e.g. le fog adni.
Archaic
Preterit 		Indef. leadék leadál leada leadánk leadátok leadának
Def. leadám leadád leadá leadánk leadátok leadák
2nd-p. o. leadálak ―
Archaic Past Two additional past tenses: the present and the (current) past forms followed by vala (volt), e.g. lead vala, leadott vala/volt.
Archaic
Future 		Indef. leadandok leadandasz leadand leadandunk leadandotok leadandanak
Def. leadandom leadandod leadandja leadandjuk leadandjátok leadandják
2nd-p. o. leadandalak ―
Condi­tional
mood 		Pre­sent Indef. leadnék leadnál leadna leadnánk leadnátok leadnának
Def. leadnám leadnád leadná leadnánk
(or leadnók) 		leadnátok leadnák
2nd-p. o. leadnálak ―
Past Indicative past forms followed by volna, e.g. leadott volna
Sub­junc­tive
mood 		Pre­sent Indef. leadjak leadj or
leadjál 		leadjon leadjunk leadjatok leadjanak
Def. leadjam leadd or
leadjad 		leadja leadjuk leadjátok leadják
2nd-p. o. leadjalak ―
(Archaic) Past Indicative past forms followed by légyen, e.g. leadott légyen
Infinitive leadni leadnom leadnod leadnia leadnunk leadnotok leadniuk
Other
forms 		Verbal noun Present part. Past part. Future part. Adverbial participle Causative
leadás leadó leadott leadandó leadva (leadván) leadat
The archaic passive conjugation had the same -(t)at/-(t)et suffix as the causative, followed by -ik in the 3rd-person singular
(and the concomitant changes in conditional and subjunctive mostly in the 1st- and 3rd-person singular like with other traditional -ik verbs).
The prefix can split from the verb stem, e.g. nem ad le or le is ad.
potential conjugation of lead
Click for archaic forms 1st person sg 2nd person sg
informal 		3rd person sg,
2nd p. sg formal 		1st person pl 2nd person pl
informal 		3rd person pl,
2nd p. pl formal
Indica­tive
mood 		Pre­sent Indef. leadhatok leadhatsz leadhat leadhatunk leadhattok leadhatnak
Def. leadhatom leadhatod leadhatja leadhatjuk leadhatjátok leadhatják
2nd-p. o. leadhatlak ―
Past Indef. leadhattam leadhattál leadhatott leadhattunk leadhattatok leadhattak
Def. leadhattam leadhattad leadhatta leadhattuk leadhattátok leadhatták
2nd-p. o. leadhattalak ―
Archaic
Preterit 		Indef. leadhaték leadhatál leadhata leadhatánk leadhatátok leadhatának
Def. leadhatám leadhatád leadhatá leadhatánk leadhatátok leadhaták
2nd-p. o. leadhatálak ―
Archaic Past Two additional past tenses: the present and the (current) past forms followed by vala, e.g. leadhat vala, leadhatott vala/volt.
Archaic
Future 		Indef. leadhatandok
or leadandhatok 		leadhatandasz
or leadandhatsz 		leadhatand
or leadandhat 		leadhatandunk
or leadandhatunk 		leadhatandotok
or leadandhattok 		leadhatandanak
or leadandhatnak
Def. leadhatandom
or leadandhatom 		leadhatandod
or leadandhatod 		leadhatandja
or leadandhatja 		leadhatandjuk
or leadandhatjuk 		leadhatandjátok
or leadandhatjátok 		leadhatandják
or leadandhatják
2nd-p. o. leadhatandalak
or leadandhatlak 		―
Condi­tional
mood 		Pre­sent Indef. leadhatnék leadhatnál leadhatna leadhatnánk leadhatnátok leadhatnának
Def. leadhatnám leadhatnád leadhatná leadhatnánk
(or leadhatnók) 		leadhatnátok leadhatnák
2nd-p. o. leadhatnálak ―
Past Indicative past forms followed by volna, e.g. leadhatott volna
Sub­junc­tive
mood 		Pre­sent Indef. leadhassak leadhass or
leadhassál 		leadhasson leadhassunk leadhassatok leadhassanak
Def. leadhassam leadhasd or
leadhassad 		leadhassa leadhassuk leadhassátok leadhassák
2nd-p. o. leadhassalak ―
(Archaic) Past Indicative past forms followed by légyen, e.g. leadhatott légyen
Inf. (leadhatni) (leadhatnom) (leadhatnod) (leadhatnia) (leadhatnunk) (leadhatnotok) (leadhatniuk)
Positive adjective leadható Neg. adj. leadhatatlan Adv. part. (leadhatva / leadhatván)
The prefix can split from the verb stem, e.g. nem adhat le or le is adhat.

Derived terms

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Expressions

Further reading

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  • lead in Bárczi, Géza and László Országh. A magyar nyelv értelmező szótára (“The Explanatory Dictionary of the Hungarian Language”, abbr.: ÉrtSz.). Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, 1959–1962. Fifth ed., 1992: →ISBN

Middle English

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Noun

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lead

  1. Alternative form of led (“lead”)

Old English

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Etymology

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From Proto-West Germanic *laud.

Pronunciation

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Noun

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lēad n

  1. lead

Declension

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Declension of lēad (strong a-stem)
Case Singular Plural
nominative lēad —
accusative lēad —
genitive lēades —
dative lēade —

Derived terms

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Descendants

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Polish

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Polish Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia pl

Etymology

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Unadapted borrowing from English lead.

Pronunciation

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Noun

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lead m inan

  1. (newspapers, journalism) lead paragraph, teaser, lead-in (start of a newspaper column, telling who, what, when, where, why and how)

Declension

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Declension of lead
singular plural
nominative lead leady
genitive leadu leadów
dative leadowi leadom
accusative lead leady
instrumental leadem leadami
locative leadzie leadach
vocative leadzie leady

Further reading

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  • lead in Polish dictionaries at PWN
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