Source etymology 1 · variant 1/2
Original entry ↗Indispensable, supremely important. · Important, salient.
To fit (a lock) with a key. · To fit (pieces of a mechanical assembly) with a key to maintain the orientation between them. · To mark or indicate with a symbol indicating membership in a class. · To depress (a telegraph key).
Etymology tree Proto-West Germanic *kaiju Old English cǣġ Middle English keye English key From Middle English keye, kaye, keiȝe, from Old English cǣġ (“key, solution, experiment”) (whence also Scots key and kay (“key”)), from Anglo-Frisian Proto-West Germanic *kaiju, of uncertain origin. The only sure cognates are Saterland Frisian Koai (“key”), West Frisian kaai (“key”), and North Frisian kai, koie (“key”). Possibly from Proto-Germanic *kēgaz, *kēguz (“stake, post, pole”), from Proto-Indo-European *ǵogʰ-, *ǵegʰ-, *ǵegʰn- (“branch, stake, bush”), which would make it cognate with Middle Low German kāk (“whipping post, pillory”), and perhaps to Middle Dutch keige (“javelin, spear”) and Middle Low German keie, keige (“spear”). For the semantic development, note that medieval keys were simply long poles (ending in a hook) with which a crossbar obstructing a door from the inside could be removed from the outside, by lifting it through a hole in the door. Liberman has noted, however, "The original meaning of *kaig-jo- was presumably '*pin with a twisted end.' Words with the root *kai- followed by a consonant meaning 'crooked, bent; twisted' are common only in the North Germanic languages."
Relationships mentioned by the source
These are extracted mentions, not a timeline or a verified sequence of immediate parents.
- Inherited-form mentionkeyeenm
- Inherited-form mentioncǣġang
- Cognate mentionkeysco
- Inherited-form mention*kaijugmw-pro
- Cognate mentionKoaistq · key
- Cognate mentionkaaify · key
- Cognate mentionkaifrr
- Derivation mention*kēgazgem-pro
- Derivation mention*ǵogʰ-ine-pro
- Cognate mentionkākgml
- Cognate mentionkeigedum
- Cognate mentionkeiegml
This page abbreviates 11 auxiliary source items. The etymology narrative is not shortened. Omission counts are available in the audit fields below; consult the original for complete auxiliary material.
Inspect preserved source fields
Raw extraction fields are retained for auditing. Their order does not establish ancestry.
{
"templates": [
{
"name": "etymon",
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": ":inh",
"3": "enm:keye<id:open>",
"id": "open",
"tree": "1"
},
"expansion": "Etymology tree\nProto-West Germanic *kaiju\nOld English cǣġ\nMiddle English keye\nEnglish key\n[Appendix:Glossary#inherited|Inherited]] from\", \"keyword\" : \"inherited\" } ], \"lang_name\" : \"Old English\", \"term\" : \"cǣġ\", \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang\" : \"ang\" } ], \"keyword_label\" : \"Inherited from\", \"keyword\" : \"inherited\" } ], \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang_name\" : \"Middle English\", \"term\" : \"keye\", \"lang\" : \"enm\" } ], \"keyword_label\" : \"Inherited from\", \"keyword\" : \"inherited\" } ], \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang_name\" : \"English\", \"term\" : \"key\", \"lang\" : \"en\" }\" data-id=\"open\" data-lang=\"en\" data-title=\"key\" id=\"English:_open\">"
},
{
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"3": "keye"
},
"expansion": "Middle English keye"
},
{
"name": "inh",
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "ang",
"3": "cǣġ",
"4": "",
"5": "key, solution, experiment"
},
"expansion": "Old English cǣġ (“key, solution, experiment”)"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "sco",
"2": "key"
},
"expansion": "Scots key"
},
{
"name": "inh",
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "gmw-pro",
"3": "*kaiju"
},
"expansion": "Proto-West Germanic *kaiju"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "stq",
"2": "Koai",
"t": "key"
},
"expansion": "Saterland Frisian Koai (“key”)"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "fy",
"2": "kaai",
"t": "key"
},
"expansion": "West Frisian kaai (“key”)"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "frr",
"2": "kai"
},
"expansion": "North Frisian kai"
},
{
"name": "der",
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "gem-pro",
"3": "*kēgaz"
},
"expansion": "Proto-Germanic *kēgaz"
},
{
"name": "der",
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "ine-pro",
"3": "*ǵogʰ-"
},
"expansion": "Proto-Indo-European *ǵogʰ-"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "gml",
"2": "kāk",
"3": "",
"4": "whipping post, pillory"
},
"expansion": "Middle Low German kāk (“whipping post, pillory”)"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "dum",
"2": "keige",
"3": "",
"4": "javelin, spear"
},
"expansion": "Middle Dutch keige (“javelin, spear”)"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "gml",
"2": "keie"
},
"expansion": "Middle Low German keie"
},
{
"name": "etymon",
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": ":inh",
"3": "enm:keye<id:open>",
"id": "open",
"tree": "1"
},
"expansion": "Etymology tree\nProto-West Germanic *kaiju\nOld English cǣġ\nMiddle English keye\nEnglish key"
}
],
"links": [
[
"*kaiju",
"Reconstruction:Proto-West Germanic/kaiju"
],
[
"cǣġ",
"cæg#Old_English"
],
[
"keye",
"keye#Middle_English:_open"
],
[
"keye",
"keye#Middle_English"
],
[
"kaye",
"kaye#Middle_English"
],
[
"keiȝe",
"keiȝe#Middle_English"
],
[
"cǣġ",
"cæg#Old_English"
],
[
"key",
"key#Scots"
],
[
"kay",
"kay#Scots"
],
[
"*kaiju",
"Reconstruction:Proto-West Germanic/kaiju"
],
[
"Koai",
"Koai#Saterland_Frisian"
],
[
"kaai",
"kaai#West_Frisian"
],
[
"kai",
"kai#North_Frisian"
],
[
"koie",
"koie#North_Frisian"
],
[
"*kēgaz",
"Reconstruction:Proto-Germanic/kēgaz"
],
[
"*kēguz",
"Reconstruction:Proto-Germanic/kēguz"
],
[
"*ǵogʰ-",
"Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-European/ǵogʰ-"
],
[
"*ǵegʰ-",
"Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-European/ǵegʰ-"
],
[
"*ǵegʰn-",
"Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-European/ǵegʰn-"
],
[
"kāk",
"kak#Middle_Low_German"
],
[
"keige",
"keige#Middle_Dutch"
],
[
"keie",
"keie#Middle_Low_German"
],
[
"keige",
"keige#Middle_Low_German"
]
],
"references": [],
"descendants": [],
"lexical": [
{
"pos": "adj",
"glosses": [
"Indispensable, supremely important.",
"Important, salient."
],
"tags": [
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{
"pos": "verb",
"glosses": [
"To fit (a lock) with a key.",
"To fit (pieces of a mechanical assembly) with a key to maintain the orientation between them.",
"To mark or indicate with a symbol indicating membership in a class.",
"To depress (a telegraph key)."
],
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