Etymograph

English

lock

Lock comes from Middle English lok, from Old English loc, from Proto-Germanic *luką, from PIE *lewg- ‘to bend’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*lewg-‘to bend’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*lukąreconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*lok‘shutter’reconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150loc
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500lok
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1697lock

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*lewg-‘to bend’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*lukąreconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*lok‘shutter’reconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150loc
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500lok
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1697lock

Earliest quotation: 1697, Virgil, The Fifth Book of the Æneis: “Sergestus, eager with his beak to press / Betwixt…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *lewg- ‘to bend’

reluctant, reluctance, leek, loke, 16 more

Another origin of lock

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*lewg-‘to bend’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*lugnó-reconstructed
  3. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*lukkaz‘lock (of hair)’reconstructed
  4. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*lokkreconstructed
  5. Old Englishc. 450–1150locc‘hair of the head, hair, lock of hair, curl, ringlet’
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500lok
  7. Englishtodaylock

It has been theorised that the word may be related to the Gothic verb *𐌻𐌿𐌺𐌰𐌽 (*lukan, “to shut”) in its ancient meaning "to curb".

Today it means

noun Something used for fastening, which can only be opened with a key or combination.

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

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *lewg- / lock

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