*SET-U

English word origin

Etymology of -lock

From Middle English -lok, -lak, -lac, from Old English -lāc (suffix denoting activity or action), from Proto-Germanic *-laikaz, suffixed form of Proto-Germanic *laiką (“play, sport, fight, activity”), *laikaz (“game, dan

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In this entry · 1 source sections

The source etymologies

Wiktionary via Kaikki / Wiktextract

The source reports below are imported and unreviewed by *SET-U. Separate numbered origins and differing source variants are preserved; agreement within this extraction is not independent corroboration.

Unnumbered source etymology

Original entry ↗
suffix

Action or proceeding, practice, ritual

Selected source glosses provide context, not a complete modern definition inventory

From Middle English -lok, -lak, -lac, from Old English -lāc (suffix denoting activity or action), from Proto-Germanic *-laikaz, suffixed form of Proto-Germanic *laiką (“play, sport, fight, activity”), *laikaz (“game, dance, hymn, sport”) (Old English lāc), from Proto-Indo-European *leyg- (“to bounce, shake, tremble”). Cognate to Old Norse -leikr. The etymology of the suffix is the same as that of the noun lāc "play, sport", also "sacrifice, offering", corresponding to obsolete Modern English lake (dialectal laik) "sport, fun, glee, game", cognate to Gothic laiks "dance", Old Norse leikr "game, sport" and Old High German leih "play, song, melody" (> Old French lai "song, lyric, poem, lay"), obsolete or dialectal German Leich. Old English līcian ("to please", Modern English like) is from the same root. In modern English, the noun has been reintroduced through the cognate Swedish lek as a specialist term referring to mating behaviour.

Relationships mentioned by the source

These are extracted mentions, not a timeline or a verified sequence of immediate parents.

  • Inherited-form mention-lokenm
  • Inherited-form mention-lācang
  • Inherited-form mention*-laikazgem-pro
  • Derivation mention*laikągem-pro · play, sport, fight, activity
  • Cognate mentionlācang
  • Derivation mention*leyg-ine-pro · to bounce, shake, tremble
  • Cognate mention-leikrnon
  • Cognate mentionLeichde
Inspect preserved source fields

Raw extraction fields are retained for auditing. Their order does not establish ancestry.

{
  "templates": [
    {
      "name": "inh",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "enm",
        "3": "-lok"
      },
      "expansion": "Middle English -lok"
    },
    {
      "name": "inh",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "ang",
        "3": "-lāc",
        "pos": "suffix denoting activity or action"
      },
      "expansion": "Old English -lāc (suffix denoting activity or action)"
    },
    {
      "name": "inh",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "gem-pro",
        "3": "*-laikaz"
      },
      "expansion": "Proto-Germanic *-laikaz"
    },
    {
      "name": "der",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "gem-pro",
        "3": "*laiką",
        "t": "play, sport, fight, activity"
      },
      "expansion": "Proto-Germanic *laiką (“play, sport, fight, activity”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "ang",
        "2": "lāc"
      },
      "expansion": "Old English lāc"
    },
    {
      "name": "der",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "ine-pro",
        "3": "*leyg-",
        "t": "to bounce, shake, tremble"
      },
      "expansion": "Proto-Indo-European *leyg- (“to bounce, shake, tremble”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "non",
        "2": "-leikr"
      },
      "expansion": "Old Norse -leikr"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "de",
        "2": "Leich"
      },
      "expansion": "German Leich"
    }
  ],
  "links": [
    [
      "-lok",
      "-lok#Middle_English"
    ],
    [
      "-lak",
      "-lak#Middle_English"
    ],
    [
      "-lac",
      "-lac#Middle_English"
    ],
    [
      "-lāc",
      "-lac#Old_English"
    ],
    [
      "*-laikaz",
      "Reconstruction:Proto-Germanic/-laikaz"
    ],
    [
      "*laiką",
      "Reconstruction:Proto-Germanic/laiką"
    ],
    [
      "*laikaz",
      "Reconstruction:Proto-Germanic/laikaz"
    ],
    [
      "lāc",
      "lac#Old_English"
    ],
    [
      "*leyg-",
      "Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-European/leyg-"
    ],
    [
      "-leikr",
      "-leikr#Old_Norse"
    ],
    [
      "lāc",
      "lac#Old_English"
    ],
    [
      "lake",
      "lake#English"
    ],
    [
      "laik",
      "laik#English"
    ],
    [
      "lai",
      "lai#Old_French"
    ],
    [
      "lay",
      "lay#English:_sung_poem"
    ],
    [
      "Leich",
      "Leich#German"
    ],
    [
      "līcian",
      "lician#Old_English"
    ],
    [
      "lek",
      "lek#Swedish"
    ]
  ],
  "references": [],
  "descendants": [],
  "lexical": [
    {
      "pos": "suffix",
      "glosses": [
        "Action or proceeding, practice, ritual"
      ],
      "tags": [
        "idiomatic",
        "morpheme"
      ],
      "recordId": "432ef0ca1ed50a2e147775855aaac810672c1f157d73d9d8ec6e69cc6930513d",
      "rawRecordSha256": "3f04a37f73cbc9404e262ce5091fe807a9f5a0cf3abb6587a696126e34a8bf51",
      "sourceRecordOrdinal": 2578272
    }
  ],
  "omittedAuxiliaryFields": {
    "templates": 0,
    "links": 0,
    "references": 0,
    "descendants": 0,
    "lexicalRecords": 0,
    "lexicalSenses": 0,
    "glosses": 0
  }
}

Where this record stops

This page does not supply an independently verified sound-change sequence, first-use manuscript or complete family tree unless a cited analysis explicitly establishes one. Missing detail here is a limit of this record—not a claim that humanity knows nothing more.

An older meaning does not determine what a word must mean today. Follow the sources, preserve disagreements, and keep ancestry separate from interpretation.

Contribute located evidence for -lock →

Source and snapshot

Imported from Wiktionary contributors; extracted by Tatu Ylonen / Wiktextract / Kaikki.org. Selected fields are reformatted and grouped; wording, source identity and etymology sections are retained. CC-BY-SA-4.0 applies to the imported source material.

Dump: 2026-10-01 · Extracted: 2026-10-30. These are snapshot dates, not the word’s first attestation or the page’s revision date.

Source entry and bibliography ↗Wiktionary revision history ↗Acquisition and rights ledger
Machine-source provenance
Source SHA-256
5ff2c072f8099f2d2ce484bd6957bf179f046d2ad37bc36555edf8bb84cb5291
Import run
73216b9a9b78ed3830994bf853103716f5a4dc57099e371e9f8fdc468facca26
Permanent entry ID
w-LWxvY2s