locker

Pronunciation

• IPA: UK /ˈlɒk.ə/, US /ˈlɑː.kɚ/^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English lokker, formed from lokken (“to lock”) (see lock) and -er.^[2][3] The NODE thinks it probably related to Flemish loker.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

A mechanism for locking: the early 14th century in Etymonline.^[2] A small chest that can be locked is from the late 14th century in Etymonline, about 1440 in the OED.^[2][5]

Semantic evolution

Lockers were especially for the individual use of men on shipboard or in regiments,^[2] and a ship's chest or compartment for clothes, stores or ammunition is recorded from 1626.^[5] A stopper or stop is from 1417,^[5] and a Custom House officer in charge of a locked warehouse from 1735.^[5] In the 20th century the locker became a feature of high-school life.^[2] In the dialects of Westmorland, Yorkshire, Derbyshire, Shropshire and Oxfordshire a locker was a piece of wood or iron put within a wheel,^[6] and in Scotland and Northumberland the globe-flower.^[6]

Timeline

• early 14th century – a locking mechanism.^[2]
• late 14th century – a lockable chest.^[2]
• 1417 – a stopper.^[5]
• 1626 – a ship's locker.^[5]
• 1735 – a customs officer.^[5]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. A small compartment or cupboard that can be locked, as in a gymnasium or school, for clothes and valuables.
2. A person or thing that locks.
3. (US, Canada) A refrigerated compartment for frozen food, often rented.
4. A flat trunk for storage.
5. (nautical) A chest or compartment for clothes, stores or ammunition.

Word family

• locker room
• chain locker
• Davy Jones's locker

Related words

• lockbox
• lock
• locket

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 Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
4. ^ Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ a b c d e f g Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ a b 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)