Editing Lead (section)

== Etymology ==
The modern English word ''lead'' is of Germanic origin; it comes from the [[Middle English]] {{lang|enm|leed}} and [[Old English]] {{lang|ang|lēad}} (with the [[Macron (diacritic)|macron]] above the "e" signifying that the vowel sound of that letter is long).{{sfn|Merriam-Webster}} The Old English word is derived from the hypothetical reconstructed [[Proto-Germanic language|Proto-Germanic]] {{lang|mis|*lauda-}} ('lead').{{sfn|Kroonen|2013|loc=*lauda-}} According to linguistic theory, this word bore descendants in multiple Germanic languages of exactly the same meaning.{{sfn|Kroonen|2013|loc=*lauda-}}

There is no consensus on the origin of the Proto-Germanic {{lang|mis|*lauda-}}. One hypothesis suggests it is derived from [[Proto-Indo-European language|Proto-Indo-European]] {{lang|mis|*lAudh-}} ('lead'; capitalization of the vowel is equivalent to the macron).{{sfn|Nikolayev|2012}}<!--this is a worthy ref, based on a very respected dictionary; the database itself has been mentioned in Proto-IE-related works--> Another hypothesis suggests it is borrowed from [[Proto-Celtic language|Proto-Celtic]] {{lang|mis|*ɸloud-io-}} ('lead'). This word is related to the [[Latin]] {{lang|la|plumbum}}, which gave the element its [[chemical symbol]] ''Pb''. The word {{lang|mis|*ɸloud-io-}}<!-- Proto-Celtic --> is thought to be the origin of Proto-Germanic {{lang|mis|*bliwa-}} (which also means 'lead'), from which stemmed the German {{lang|de|Blei}}.{{sfn|Kroonen|2013|loc=*bliwa- 2}}

The name of the chemical element is not related to the verb of the same spelling, which is derived from Proto-Germanic {{lang|mis|*laidijan-}} ('to lead').{{sfn|Kroonen|2013|loc=*laidijan-}}

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