Solder

How to spell solder

6 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce solder

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does solder mean?

1. nounA fusible metal alloy, usually tin and lead or tin and copper, melted to join metal surfaces or electrical parts.
2. verbTo join or repair metal parts by melting a fusible alloy between them.

Solder in a sentence

• noun

  The technician melted a coil of solder onto the circuit board.

• verb

  He learned to solder copper pipes without leaving any gaps.

• noun

  A roll of lead-free solder sat next to the hot iron on the workbench.

• verb

  You can solder the loose wire back onto the terminal.

Where does solder come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word traces back to the Latin solidare, meaning 'to make solid or firm', which was built on the adjective solidus 'solid, whole, dense'. It passed into Old French as souder (the verb) and soudure (the substance), where the Latin 'l' had quietly dropped out of both the spelling and the sound. English borrowed it in the 1300s, originally writing it without an 'l', as 'soudur' or 'souder'. Later scholars deliberately put the 'l' back into the spelling to show off the Latin root solidus, even though many speakers never restored it in pronunciation; this is exactly why American speakers say it as 'sodder' while the written 'l' lingers on the page. The same solidus root also gives English 'solid', 'consolidate' and 'solidarity', so the silent (or sounded) 'l' is really a fossil pointing back to the idea of making metal join up firmly.

How the word is built

• sold- (from Latin solidus: solid, firm)
• -er (forming the noun/verb)