entry

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈen.tri/^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English entre,^[2][3] borrowed from Old French entree (“entry, entrance”),^[4][2] the noun use of the feminine past participle of entrer (“to enter”),^[4][2] from Vulgar Latin *intrāta,^[5][6] from intrāre (“to enter”).^[5][7] It is related to enter, entrance and entree.^[4][2]

Earliest recorded meaning

The act of entering, a place of entrance, the right of entering: about 1300 in Etymonline,^[4] before 1300 in Barnhart^[2] and about 1330 in the OED.^[8]

Semantic evolution

Etymonline also gives “initiation or beginning of an action” from about 1300.^[4] The ceremonial entrance of a king is from 1534.^[8] In law, the actual taking possession of land by entering it is from 1491,^[8] and an act essential to the crime of burglary from 1769.^[8] “That which is entered or set down in a book or list” is from about 1500,^[4] and the item under a headword in a dictionary followed.^[9][10] A competitor entered in a race or contest is a later use.^[10][9] In bridge, a card that gives the lead to one's partner is from 1884,^[8] and in music the start of a part in a canon from 1879.^[8] In northern English and Scots dialect an entry is a narrow passage between houses.^[11]

Timeline

• c. 1300 – the act of entering.^[4]
• 1491 – taking possession of land.^[8]
• c. 1500 – something set down in a record.^[4]
• 1534 – a ceremonial entrance.^[8]
• 1769 – in burglary.^[8]
• 1884 – in bridge.^[8]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. The act of entering.
2. The right or privilege of entering.
3. A place or means of entering; an entrance.
4. An item written in a record, list or diary.
5. A headword in a dictionary, with the text that follows it.
6. A competitor entered in a contest.

Word family

• nonentry
• subentry
• entryway
• entry-level
• analytical entry
• bill of entry
• book of original entry
• port of entry

Related words

• enter
• entrance
• entree
• intrude

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 Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
3. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
4. ^ a b c d e f g h Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ a b Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
7. ^ Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
8. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
9. ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
10. ^ a b Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
11. ^ 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)