English

keyway

From key + way.

A compound of key + way

Proto-West Germanic *kaiju

Old English cǣġ ‘key’

Middle English keye ‘a key’

English key

Proto-Indo-European *weǵʰ- ‘to bring’

Proto-Germanic *wegaz

Proto-West Germanic *weg ‘way’

Old English weġ

Middle English way

English way

Today it means

noun A slot into which a precision attachment (a key) is fitted.

Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.