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Origin and history of LED

LED(n.)

1968, initialism (acronym) from light-emitting diode.

led

past tense and past participle of lead (v.). As an adjective, often with the implication of subjection or sycophancy.

Entries linking to LED

lead(v.1)

"to guide," Old English lædan (transitive) "cause to go with oneself; march at the head of, go before as a guide, accompany and show the way; carry on; sprout forth, bring forth; pass (one's life)," causative of liðan "to travel," from Proto-Germanic *laidjanan (source also of Old Saxon lithan, Old Norse liða "to go," Old High German ga-lidan "to travel," Gothic ga-leiþan "to go"), from PIE *leit- (2) "to go forth."

Of roads, c. 1200. Meaning "to be in first place" is from late 14c. Intransitive sense, "act the part of a leader," is from 1570s. Sense in card playing, "to commence a round or trick," is from 1670s. Meaning "take the directing part in a musical performance or prayer" is from 1849. Related: Led; leading.

To lead with one's chin "leave oneself vulnerable in a contest" (1946) is a figure from boxing. To lead on "entice to advance" is from 1590s. To figuratively lead (someone) by the nose "guide by persuasion" is from 1580s, from draught animals (earlier lead by the sleeve, early 15c.). To lead (someone) a dance "compel through a course of irksome actions" is from 1520s.

    Trends of LED

    adapted from books.google.com/ngrams/ with a 7-year moving average; ngrams are probably unreliable.

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    destrier
    riding horse of a noble breed, war horse," c. 1300, from Old French destrer, destrier (12c.), from Vulgar Latin *dextrarius "led...So called because it was led at the right hand until wanted in battle....
    pixie
    The earliest printed references are in pixy-path "bewilderment," literally "path on which one is led astray by pixies," and...pixie-led "lost, bewildered."...
    hack
    Extended sense of "horse for hire" (late 14c.) led naturally to "broken-down nag," and also "prostitute" (1570s) and "a drudge...Sense of "carriage for hire" (1704) led to modern slang for "taxicab." As an adjective, 1734, from the noun....
    waffle
    Figurative sense of "talk foolishly" (c. 1700) led to that of "vacillate, equivocate" (1803), originally a Scottish and northern...
    exchange
    The practice of merchants or lenders meeting at certain places to exchange bills of debt led to the meaning "building for...
    jam
    Sense of "machine blockage" is from 1890, which probably led to the colloquial meaning "predicament, tight spot," first recorded...
    terse
    Sense of "concise or pithy in style or language" is from 1777, which led to a general sense of "neatly concise."...
    travel
    late 14c., "to journey," from travailen (1300) "to make a journey," originally "to toil, labor" (see travail). The semantic development may have been via the notion of "go on a difficult journey," but it also may reflect the difficulty of any journey in the Middle Ages. Replaced
    urn
    late 14c., "large, rounded vase used to preserve the ashes of the dead," from Latin urna "a jar, vessel of baked clay, water-jar; vessel for the ashes of the dead" (also used as a ballot box and for drawing lots), probably from earlier *urc-na, akin to urceus "pitcher, jug," and
    run
    Old English, "move swiftly by using the legs, go on legs more rapidly than walking," also "make haste, hurry; be active, pursue or follow a course," and, of inanimate things, "to move over a course." The modern verb is a merger of two related Old English words, in both of which t
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