unlock English · revision 15260

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=derivation|attested=c. 1400}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ʌnˈlɒk/ ''(UK)''; /ʌnˈlɑk/ ''(US)''^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|enm|unlokken]],^(MWU 2024) [[af|en|un-|lock]] (the verb), un- meaning to reverse.^(Etymonline)^(MWU 2024) Old English had a verb [[m|ang|unlūcan|t=to unlock, open]].^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ To open something locked with a key, to unfasten: the late 14th century in Etymonline, about 1400 in the OED;^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989) Merriam-Webster gives the 14th century.^(MWU 2024)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ To set free by undoing a lock, and so figuratively to let flow or come forth, is also from about 1400.^(OED 1989) The figurative sense, to lay open, is attested from the 1530s,^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989) to give access to or bring to light from 1593,^(OED 1989) and to explain or provide a key to something obscure from 1636.^(OED 1989) The intransitive use, to become unlocked, is from 1470–85.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1400 – to open a lock; to set free.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1470–85 – to become unlocked.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1530s – to lay open (figurative).^(Etymonline)

+ * 1636 – to explain.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Verb===

+ # To undo the [[lock]] of a door, box or the like, with a [[key]].^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # To open, release or set free.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # To give access to, or reveal: ''unlock a puzzle''.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # To become unlocked or unfastened.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[unlockable]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[lock]]

+ * [[key]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}