click

Pronunciation

• IPA: /klɪk/^[1]

Etymology

It is of imitative origin,^[2][3][4] perhaps related to Dutch and East Frisian klikken “to click”, German klicken, and Old French clique “the tick of a clock” and cliquer “to click”.^[2][3][5] The noun is from the verb, or was formed independently in imitation of the sound.^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

The verb, “to make a slight sharp sound” (transitive): 1581.^[3][6] The intransitive sense is from the 1610s.^[2] The noun, a light sharp sound, is from 1611, in Cotgrave's Dictionary.^[3][7]

Semantic evolution

A catch or latch for a lock is a click from 1758,^[7] the click beetle from 1830,^[2] and the click consonants of some southern African languages from 1837.^[2][7] The figurative sense, of people, “to hit it off at once”, is from 1915, perhaps from the sound of a key in a lock,^[2][3] and “to fall into place, become clear” is by 1939.^[2] In computing, pressing a mouse button is to click.^[8][9] In northern English dialect click also meant “to snatch, seize”, a form of cleek.^[10][6]

Timeline

• 1581 – verb, to make a sharp sound.^[3][6]
• 1611 – noun, a sharp sound.^[3][7]
• 1758 – a catch or latch.^[7]
• 1837 – a click consonant.^[2][7]
• 1915 – to hit it off.^[2][3]
• 1939 – to fall into place.^[2]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. A short, sharp, light sound.
2. A catch or pawl that snaps into place.
3. (linguistics) A sucking consonant found in some African languages.
4. (computing) An act of pressing a button on a mouse.

Verb

1. To make or cause to make a click.
2. (informal) To be a success; to get on well together; to become clear suddenly.
3. (computing) To press a mouse button, or select an item by doing so.

Word family

• clicker
• clickable
• clickless
• double-click
• point-and-click
• click beetle

Related words

• clack
• clink
• cleek
• clique

References

1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
4. ^ Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ a b c Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
7. ^ a b c d e f Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
8. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
9. ^ Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
10. ^ Wright, Joseph, ed. (1898–1905), The English Dialect Dictionary, 6 vols., Oxford: Henry Frowde; via EDD Online 4.0, University of Innsbruck (CC BY 4.0)