*SET-U

English word origin

Etymology of Lock

* As an English, German and Dutch surname, from the noun lock. * Also as an English surname, from Middle English loke, itself from Old English loca (“enclosure”) or *Loca (“Loki”) (theonym of the latter). * Also as an En

1 source sectionExtended source reportWiktionary original ↗
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 ↗
name

A surname. · An unincorporated community in Knox County and Licking County, Ohio, United States. · A town in Elliston district council area, Eyre Peninsula, South Australia; from the surname.

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

* As an English, German and Dutch surname, from the noun lock. * Also as an English surname, from Middle English loke, itself from Old English loca (“enclosure”) or *Loca (“Loki”) (theonym of the latter). * Also as an English surname, from Middle English locke, from Old English locc (“lock of hair”). * Also as a German surname, Americanized from Loch. * As a Chinese surname, variant of Lok, itself from: ** a Cantonese form of 樂 /乐, see Le. ** a Cantonese form of 陸 /陆, 鹿 (lù), 逯 (lù), and 禄 (lù), see Lu. ** a Cantonese form of 駱 /骆 (luò), see Luo.

Relationships mentioned by the source

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

  • Inherited-form mentionlokeenm
  • Derivation mentionlocaang
  • Inherited-form mentionlockeenm
  • Cognate mentionloccang · lock of hair
Inspect preserved source fields

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

{
  "templates": [
    {
      "name": "der",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "de",
        "3": "-"
      },
      "expansion": "German"
    },
    {
      "name": "der",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "nl",
        "3": "-"
      },
      "expansion": "Dutch"
    },
    {
      "name": "inh",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "enm",
        "3": "loke"
      },
      "expansion": "Middle English loke"
    },
    {
      "name": "der",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "ang",
        "3": "loca",
        "4": "",
        "5": "enclosure"
      },
      "expansion": "Old English loca (“enclosure”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "inh",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "enm",
        "3": "locke"
      },
      "expansion": "Middle English locke"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "ang",
        "2": "locc",
        "t": "lock of hair"
      },
      "expansion": "Old English locc (“lock of hair”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "der",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "zh",
        "3": "-"
      },
      "expansion": "Chinese"
    },
    {
      "name": "der",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "yue",
        "3": "-"
      },
      "expansion": "Cantonese"
    }
  ],
  "links": [
    [
      "lock",
      "lock#English"
    ],
    [
      "loke",
      "loke#Middle_English"
    ],
    [
      "loca",
      "loca#Old_English"
    ],
    [
      "*Loca",
      "Reconstruction:Old English/Loca"
    ],
    [
      "locke",
      "locke#Middle_English"
    ],
    [
      "locc",
      "locc#Old_English"
    ],
    [
      "Loch",
      "Loch#English"
    ],
    [
      "Lok",
      "Lok#English"
    ],
    [
      "樂",
      "樂#Chinese"
    ],
    [
      "乐",
      "乐#Chinese"
    ],
    [
      "Le",
      "Le#English"
    ],
    [
      "陸",
      "陸#Chinese"
    ],
    [
      "陆",
      "陆#Chinese"
    ],
    [
      "鹿",
      "鹿#Chinese"
    ],
    [
      "逯",
      "逯#Chinese"
    ],
    [
      "禄",
      "禄#Chinese"
    ],
    [
      "Lu",
      "Lu#English"
    ],
    [
      "駱",
      "駱#Chinese"
    ],
    [
      "骆",
      "骆#Chinese"
    ],
    [
      "Luo",
      "Luo#English"
    ]
  ],
  "references": [],
  "descendants": [],
  "lexical": [
    {
      "pos": "name",
      "glosses": [
        "A surname.",
        "An unincorporated community in Knox County and Licking County, Ohio, United States.",
        "A town in Elliston district council area, Eyre Peninsula, South Australia; from the surname."
      ],
      "tags": [],
      "recordId": "9774930a11213440cdf7ebe7d0a36cbc9fda5c3fed45bf18d92fc2465586a4c7",
      "rawRecordSha256": "ff8a9f9511d19db009c08d0a62e9079f3704281023ad51acb7add70b273abc27",
      "sourceRecordOrdinal": 4457629
    }
  ],
  "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-TG9jaw