click English · revision 2992

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=onomatopoeia|attested=1581|origins=en click}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /klɪk/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is of imitative origin,^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(NODE 1998) perhaps related to Dutch and East Frisian klikken “to click”, German klicken, and Old French clique “the tick of a clock” and cliquer “to click”.^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986) The noun is from the verb, or was formed independently in imitation of the sound.^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The verb, “to make a slight sharp sound” (transitive): 1581.^(Barnhart 1988)^(MWU 2024) The intransitive sense is from the 1610s.^(Etymonline) The noun, a light sharp sound, is from 1611, in Cotgrave's Dictionary.^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ A catch or latch for a lock is a ''click'' from 1758,^(OED 1989) the click beetle from 1830,^(Etymonline) and the click consonants of some southern African languages from 1837.^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989) The figurative sense, of people, “to hit it off at once”, is from 1915, perhaps from the sound of a key in a lock,^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) and “to fall into place, become clear” is by 1939.^(Etymonline) In computing, pressing a mouse button is ''to click''.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023) In northern English dialect ''click'' also meant “to snatch, seize”, a form of ''cleek''.^(Wright 1898)^(MWU 2024)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1581 – verb, to make a sharp sound.^(Barnhart 1988)^(MWU 2024)

+ * 1611 – noun, a sharp sound.^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989)

+ * 1758 – a catch or latch.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1837 – a click consonant.^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989)

+ * 1915 – to hit it off.^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1939 – to fall into place.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A short, sharp, light sound.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # A [[catch]] or [[pawl]] that snaps into place.^(AHD)^(OED 1989)

+ # ''(linguistics)'' A sucking consonant found in some African languages.^(AHD)^(OED 1989)

+ # ''(computing)'' An act of pressing a button on a [[mouse]].^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ===Verb===

+ # To make or cause to make a click.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # ''(informal)'' To be a success; to get on well together; to become clear suddenly.^(AHD)^(Etymonline)

+ # ''(computing)'' To press a mouse button, or select an item by doing so.^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[clicker]]

+ * [[clickable]]

+ * [[clickless]]

+ * [[double-click]]

+ * [[point-and-click]]

+ * [[click beetle]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[clack]]

+ * [[clink]]

+ * [[cleek]]

+ * [[clique]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}