locket

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English loket,^[2] apparently borrowed from Old French loket (“fastening device”), the Anglo-Norman form, recorded from the 13th century,^[3][4] formed from loc (“latch, lock”) and the diminutive suffix -et.^[3][5][6] Most dictionaries cite it as Old French loquet (“latch, door-handle, bolt”) (later loquet).^{[6][7][8][5][9]} The French word is of Germanic origin:^[7][5][8] Barnhart and Etymonline trace it to Frankish, comparing Old Norse lok (“fastening, lock”),^[10][6] Merriam-Webster Unabridged derives the French word from Middle Dutch loke (“latch, bolt”),^[11] and the revised OED takes the Anglo-Norman word from the English noun lock.^[3] The OED adds that in later use the English word was probably partly re-formed in English with the same suffix, and compares Medieval Latin lokettus (“metal plate, bar or bolt”) in British sources of the late 13th century.^[3] Italian lucchetto is also from Germanic.^[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

An iron crossbar holding the glass of a window: 1354–5, in the Ripon church records, where a smith was paid for making lokats of iron for the windows.^[3][2][10] Etymonline dates it to the mid-14th century.^[6]

Semantic evolution

In Middle English the word named iron crossbars in windows and metal plates or bands on a scabbard (from 1382).^[2][3] The window sense lasted until 1862.^[3] In the 17th century it was used for a group of small jewels set in a pattern (1655–1704) and for a small catch fastening a necklace or other jewel (1657–1766);^[3][8] Johnson (1755) still defined it as "a small lock; any catch or spring to fasten a necklace".^[12] From such a fastening the word passed to the small ornamental case hung from the neck, first recorded in 1679 in the London Gazette.^[3][10] This is the meaning in which it survives;^[3][13] Etymonline and Collins date it to the 1670s and the 17th century.^[6][13] Such a case often holds a memento such as a portrait or a lock of hair.^[3][11] Merriam-Webster Unabridged also records the word for a patch of distinct colour on a cat's throat or chest.^[11]

Timeline

• 1354 – an iron crossbar of a window (obsolete by 1862).^[3][2][10]
• 1382 – a metal band or plate on a scabbard.^[3][2]
• 1655 – a group of small jewels set in a pattern (obsolete by 1704).^[3]
• 1657 – a small catch fastening a necklace or jewel (obsolete by 1766).^[3]
• 1679 – a small ornamental case worn on a chain around the neck.^[3][10]

Meanings

Noun

1. A small, often ornamental case, usually of gold or silver, worn on a chain or necklace and holding a keepsake such as a photograph or a lock of hair: She kept her grandmother's picture in a silver locket.^{[13][11][3][7]}
2. A metal plate or band on a scabbard, to which the fastening to a belt is attached.^[11][3][5]
3. A patch of distinct colour, often white, on the throat or chest of a cat.^[11]
4. (obsolete, 1354–1862) An iron crossbar of a window.^[3][11][5]
5. (obsolete, 1655–1704) A group of small jewels set in a pattern.^[3][11][5]
6. (obsolete, 1657–1766) A catch or spring fastening a necklace or other ornament.^[3][11][12]

Related words

• lock

Usage notes

The OED and the Middle English Dictionary also record a separate Middle English loket, a lock of hair or wool, a lovelock, from before 1350, formed from lock (of hair) and -et; the OED thinks it was later sometimes associated with the locket that holds a lock of hair.^[3][2]

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f Kurath, Hans; Kuhn, Sherman M.; Lewis, Robert E., eds. (1952–2001), Middle English Dictionary, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press; online edition ed. Frances McSparran et al. (2000–2018)
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
4. ^ Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
5. ^ a b c d e f Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ a b c d e f Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
7. ^ a b c The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
8. ^ a b c Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
9. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
10. ^ a b c d e Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
11. ^ a b c d e f g h i Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
12. ^ a b Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
13. ^ a b c Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins