keyhole

Etymology

It is formed from English key¹ + hole.^{[2][3][4][5][6]} Johnson (1755) explained it the same way, as key and hole.^[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

A hole in a lock into which the key is put: 1504, in an inventory, according to the revised OED;^[2] Merriam-Webster Unabridged gives the same year.^[6] Other dictionaries date the word later: the Shorter Oxford to the late 16th century,^[4] Etymonline to the 1590s,^[3] Merriam-Webster's Collegiate to about 1592^[8] and Dictionary.com to 1585–95.^[5]

Semantic evolution

Johnson (1755) defined the word as the opening in a door or lock through which the key is put, quoting Shakespeare's "shut that, and 'twill out at the keyhole".^[7] As early as 1607, in Dekker and Webster's Westward Ho, it was slang for the female genitals.^[2][9] From 1703 it was also a carpenter's and engineer's word for a hole made to receive a peg, pin or bolt.^[2][4] The idea of peeping through a keyhole gave the verb, first recorded in American English in 1871, to spy on someone or to get an intimate view of their life,^[2] and an adjective for revealingly intimate reporting, which Merriam-Webster's Collegiate dates to 1937.^[8] The shape of the hole gave the other modern senses: a bullet that strikes sideways keyholes (1878),^[2][6] and since 1900 any small opening shaped like a keyhole,^[2] including the area of a basketball court formed by the free-throw lane and circle (1936),^[2][6] a decorative cut-out in a garment (1943),^[2] the narrow region of space through which a spacecraft must pass (1961)^[2] and the very small incision of keyhole surgery (1973).^[2] In New Brunswick a keyhole was a small lake or a narrow-mouthed bay near Grand Lake, a sense now surviving only as a place name.^[2]

Timeline

• 1504 – a hole in a lock into which the key is inserted.^[2][6]
• 1607 – slang, the female genitals.^[2][9]
• 1703 – a hole into which a peg, pin or bolt fits.^[2][4]
• 1871 – verb, to spy on someone through a keyhole (originally American).^[2]
• 1878 – verb, of a bullet, to strike the target sideways and make an elongated hole.^[2][6]
• 1900 – any small opening shaped like a keyhole.^[2]
• 1936 – in basketball, the free-throw lane and circle together.^[2]
• 1937 – adjective, revealingly intimate.^[8]
• 1943 – a decorative hole cut in a garment, as in a keyhole neckline.^[2]
• 1973 – in surgery, a very small incision for a minimally invasive procedure.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. A hole in a lock or door into which a key is put: She peered through the keyhole into the empty hall.^[6][2][7]
2. A hole or groove made to receive a peg, pin, bolt or key, as in beams to be joined.^[6][2][4]
3. Any small opening shaped like a keyhole.^[2][1]
4. In basketball, the area formed by the free-throw lane and the free-throw circle.^[6][2]
5. A small decorative hole cut in a garment, especially at the neckline.^[2][1]
6. A very small incision through which an endoscope or other instrument is passed, as in keyhole surgery.^[2]
7. (slang) The female genitals.^[2][9]

Verb

1. Of a bullet, to strike the target sideways, making an elongated hole.^[6][2][1]
2. To spy on someone, as if through a keyhole; to get an intimate view of a person's private life.^[2]

Adjective

1. Revealing intimate details of private life, or eager to reveal them.^[6][8]

Word family

• keyhole saw

Related words

• key
• hole

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z 27 28 29 30 Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b c d e Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. ^ a b Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
7. ^ a b c Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
8. ^ a b c d Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
9. ^ a b c Green, Jonathon (2010), Green's Dictionary of Slang, London: Chambers; digital ed. 2016–, https://greensdictofslang.com