lockdown

Etymology

It is formed from English lock + down, from the verb lock and the adverb down;^[2][3] in its modern sense it follows the phrasal verb lock down.^[2][3] Dictionary.com suggests that it was probably modelled on nouns made from phrasal verbs, such as crackdown and shutdown.^[4][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

In 1832, in an act of the Maine legislature, a lockdown was a piece of wood used in building timber rafts for floating logs downriver: a strip or branch bent round a horizontal pole to hold the raft together.^[2] Etymonline likewise notes several mechanical senses from the late 19th century.^[3]

Semantic evolution

The word moved from timber rafts to prisons in the United States in the 1970s: the confinement of prisoners to their cells, usually as a security measure after a disturbance, is recorded from 1973 in the Fresno Bee,^[2] by 1975 in Etymonline^[3] and in 1977 in Merriam-Webster.^[6] Black's Law Dictionary defines it in this sense, as a temporary confinement during an escape, riot or other emergency.^[7] From 1984 the word was used more generally for a state of isolation or restricted access imposed for security or public health,^[2] and since 1986 in computing for restricted access to data or systems.^[2]

Timeline

• 1832 – a piece of wood holding a timber raft together.^[2]
• 1973 – the confinement of prisoners to their cells.^[2]
• 1984 – more generally, a state of isolation or restricted access for security or public health.^[2]
• 1986 – in computing, restricted access to data or systems.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. The confinement of prisoners to their cells for a time as a security measure: The riot put the whole wing on lockdown for a week.^[2][6][7]
2. More generally, an emergency state in which people must stay where they are or at home, or access to a place is restricted, for safety or to control a disease: The town went into lockdown during the outbreak.^[2]
3. In computing, the restriction of access to data or systems.^[2]
4. A device for fastening the logs of a timber raft together.^[2]

Related words

• lock
• down
• crackdown
• shutdown
• lockout

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
5. ^ Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary (1999), 2nd ed., New York: Random House
6. ^ a b Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
7. ^ a b Garner, Bryan A., ed. (2004), Black's Law Dictionary, 8th ed., St. Paul, Minn.: Thomson West