A compound of key + cap
Proto-West Germanic *kaiju
Old English cǣġ ‘key’
Middle English keye ‘a key’
English key
Latin caput ‘head’
Late Latin cappa ‘cap, hood, cape’
Proto-West Germanic *kappā ‘covering, hood, mantle’
Old English cæppe ‘cap, hood’
Middle English cappe ‘cap’
English cap
Today it means
noun The part of a key (on a keyboard) that is pressed by the user, as opposed to any electromechanical unit underneath.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / keycap
Shirt and support for this word