Etymologically
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click

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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

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)