unlock

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ʌnˈlɒk/ (UK); /ʌnˈlɑk/ (US)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English unlokken,^[2] from English un- + lock (the verb), un- meaning to reverse.^[3][2] Old English had a verb unlūcan (“to unlock, open”).^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

To open something locked with a key, to unfasten: the late 14th century in Etymonline, about 1400 in the OED;^[3][4] Merriam-Webster gives the 14th century.^[2]

Semantic evolution

To set free by undoing a lock, and so figuratively to let flow or come forth, is also from about 1400.^[4] The figurative sense, to lay open, is attested from the 1530s,^[3][4] to give access to or bring to light from 1593,^[4] and to explain or provide a key to something obscure from 1636.^[4] The intransitive use, to become unlocked, is from 1470–85.^[4]

Timeline

• c. 1400 – to open a lock; to set free.^[4]
• 1470–85 – to become unlocked.^[4]
• 1530s – to lay open (figurative).^[3]
• 1636 – to explain.^[4]

Modern meaning

Verb

1. To undo the lock of a door, box or the like, with a key.
2. To open, release or set free.
3. To give access to, or reveal: unlock a puzzle.
4. To become unlocked or unfastened.

Word family

• unlockable

Related words

• lock
• key

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
3. ^ a b c d e Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press