key English · revision 3453

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /kiː/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ {{homograph|1|lock opener}}

+

+ {{infobox|confidence=uncertain|formation=inherited|attested=before 725 (Old English cǣg)|origins=ang cǣg}}

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ The lock opener is [[inh|enm|keie]], [[inh|ang|cǣg]], [[m|ang|cǣge]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(SOED 2002) a word of unknown origin whose only sure cognate is [[ofs|kēi]].^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986)^(SOED 2002) Barnhart, Merriam-Webster and Etymonline compare Middle Low German keie “lance, spear”, perhaps from a Germanic base meaning “to cleave”, as in German [[m|de|Keil|t=wedge]].^(Barnhart 1988)^(MWU 2024)^(Etymonline)^(Klein 1966) Liberman reconstructs *kaig-jo-, originally “a pin with a twisted end”, from a root meaning “crooked, twisted” found mainly in North Germanic, and concludes that it reached English and Frisian from Scandinavia; the same root survives in a northern dialect adjective ''key'' “twisted”.^(Liberman 2008)^(Wright 1898) Etymonline notes that the modern pronunciation is a northern variant that prevailed from about 1700; earlier it was often pronounced “kay”.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ An instrument for opening locks: Old English ''cǣg'', before 725,^(Barnhart 1988) or before 1000 in the OED,^(OED 1989) used literally and figuratively for a solution or explanation.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The power of the keys in the church, after Matthew 16:19, is from before 900.^(OED 1989) The musical sense was first “tone, note”, in the mid-15th century; in music theory it developed in the 17th century, probably translating Latin [[m|la|clāvis|t=key]], Guido's term for the lowest note of a scale.^(Etymonline) A lever of a keyboard instrument is from 1513.^(HTOED) A piece that holds other parts together is from the 1520s, and an explanation or solution from about 1600.^(Etymonline) The verb “to fasten with a wedge” is from the mid-14th century, “to regulate the pitch” from the 1630s, “to enter data on a keyboard” by 1958, and “to scratch a car with a key” by 1986.^(Etymonline) The adjective “crucially important” is from 1913, perhaps reinforced by ''key move'' in chess problems, from 1827.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * before 725 – Old English ''cǣg''.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * before 900 – the keys of the church.^(OED 1989)

+ * mid-14th century – verb, to wedge.^(Etymonline)

+ * mid-15th century – a musical note.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1513 – a key of a keyboard instrument.^(HTOED)

+ * c. 1600 – a solution, explanation.^(Etymonline)

+ * c. 1700 – pronunciation /kiː/ prevails.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1913 – adjective, crucial.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1958 – verb, to enter data.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A notched metal implement turned to open or close a [[lock]]; a similar device for winding.^(AHD)^(SOED 2002)

+ # A means of access or control: ''the key to success''.^(AHD)^(Etymonline)

+ # A set of answers; an explanatory table or legend.^(AHD)^(Etymonline)

+ # A button or lever pressed on a [[keyboard]] or instrument.^(AHD)^(HTOED)

+ # ''(music)'' A system of notes related to a [[tonic]]; [[tonality]].^(AHD)^(Etymonline)

+ # A pin or wedge that locks parts together.^(AHD)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ===Adjective===

+ # Of crucial importance.^(AHD)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ===Verb===

+ # To lock; to fasten with a key or wedge.^(AHD)^(OED 1989)

+ # To adjust or adapt to: ''keyed to''.^(AHD)^(Etymonline)

+ # To enter data by means of a keyboard.^(AHD)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[keyboard]]

+ * [[keyhole]]

+ * [[keynote]]

+ * [[keystone]]

+ * [[keyword]]

+ * [[keyed]]

+ * [[keyless]]

+ * [[passkey]]

+

+ {{homograph|2|low island}}

+

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=1697|origins=tnq cayo}}

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ The island is an alteration of Spanish [[m|es|cayo|t=shoal, reef]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(AHD 2000) from [[tnq|cayo|t=small island]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(MWU 2024) also borrowed as [[cay]].^(SOED 2002)^(AHD 2000) The spelling was influenced by an older English ''key'', a variant of [[quay]] from Old French [[m|fro|kai]], recorded from 1306 for a wharf.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ A low island, sandbank or reef: 1697,^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989)^(MW Collegiate) or 1693 in Merriam-Webster Unabridged.^(MWU 2024)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The word is used especially of the islands of the West Indies and the coast of Florida,^(SOED 2002) as in the Florida Keys, which gave the ''Key lime'' its name.^(SOED 2002)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1306 – ''key'', a wharf.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1697 – a low island.^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A low offshore island or reef, especially in the Gulf of Mexico; a [[cay]].^(AHD)^(SOED 2002)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[key card]]

+ * [[key ring]]

+ * [[key signature]]

+ * [[keel]]

+ * [[cay]]

+ * [[quay]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ ''Key'' in drug slang, a kilogram of a drug, is a third word, shortened from [[kilogram]] or [[kilo]], from the 1960s.^(AHD 2000)^(MW Collegiate)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}