• solder •
Pronunciation: (US) sah-dêr, saw-dêr; (UK) sahl-dê, sol-dê • Hear it!
Part of Speech: Noun, verb
Meaning: 1. A fusible metal, especially lead, that melts under heat and sticks to metal surfaces to join them together. 2. An act or result of soldering. 3. A bond or principle that unites in any way.
Notes: Here is an odd word whose pronunciation has wandered far off course in the US. We often find words whose semantics went wild, but the sound of a word usually stays on course. The noun comes with the adjective solderless. The adjective of the verb is solderable with its noun solderability. The personal noun is solderer and the action noun, soldering.
In Play: The literal sense of the verb may be heard in expressions like this: "Maybe we could solder the fender back on before your father sees it." It and the noun may also be used figuratively: "Their love of fishing was the solder that held their marriage together."
Word History: Today's Good Word was borrowed from Old French soldure, soudre, originally solder "to join, fasten together", inherited from Latin solidare "to make solid", from solidus "solid". This word arose from PIE sol- "whole", which also went into the making of Sanskrit sarva- "whole, all", Greek holos "whole", Latin salus "good health", Welsh holl "all" and oll "all", Breton oll "all, every", and Irish uile "whole, all". Latin solidus went on to become French solide "secure, firm, sterling", Italian solido "solid", and Portuguese and Spanish sólido "solid". (Our long-time South African friend Chris Stewart was the one who suggested we run today's solid Good Word.)
