Waterpipe

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A tubular instrument that cools and filters smoke by passing it through water, primarily used for inhaling tobacco or other substances
2. An apparatus that employs water to purify and moderate smoke for inhalation, commonly associated with various smoking materials
3. A device consisting of a tube that utilizes water to filter and cool smoke before inhalation, typically used for tobacco or herbal products

Etymology: The word is a plain compound of "water" and "pipe", and its parts carry the whole history. "Pipe" came into English from Old English "pīpe", a borrowing of Latin "pipare" in its sense of a reed or tube for wind, and the idea of a hollow tube for conveying water was attached to that same word early on. Pairing it with "water" produced a term for a pipe that carries water, the sense that gives the modern word its literal meaning. The earlier form, "waterpype" in Middle English, shows the compound was already in use before the spelling settled into two words. Its later sense, a device that draws smoke through water, is a specialised extension of that plain meaning: the water is not carried through the tube but is used as a filter, so the pipe is named for the liquid it contains rather than for anything it transports.

Synonyms: hookah, shisha, pipe, INVALID, INVALID