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Added 9 October 2026

lock

/lɒk/ noun

In Latin: claustra, clausūra Wiktionary

noun Definition from WordNet 3.1, Princeton University. Pronunciation from Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org. More about lock at Wordnik → Where our words come from →

A fastener fitted to a door or drawer to keep it firmly closed.
A strand or cluster of hair.
A mechanism that detonates the charge of a gun.

verb

Fasten with a lock.
lock the bike to the fence
Keep engaged.
engaged the gears
Become rigid or immoveable.
The therapist noticed that the patient's knees tended to lock in this exercise

Origin

From Middle English lok, from Old English loc, from Proto-West Germanic *lok, from Proto-Germanic *luką from Proto-Indo-European *lewg- (“to bend; turn”). Cognate with Cimbrian loch, lòch (“hole”), Dutch lok (“hole”), German Loch (“hole”), German Low German Lock (“hole”), Luxembourgish Lach (“hole”), Vilamovian łöch (“hole”), Yiddish לאָך (lokh, “hole”), Danish låg (“lid, cover”), Norwegian Bokmål lokk (“lid, cover”), Norwegian Nynorsk lok, lokk (“lid, cover”). The verb is from Middle English locken, lokken, louken, from Old English lūcan, Proto-West Germanic *lūkan, from Proto-Germanic *lūkaną.

From Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org (CC BY-SA)

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