key

M

matakoweg

Senior Member
alkmaar, netherlands
nederlands
The word ‘key’ is in Arabic: مفتاح miftāḥ
Related to the verb ‘to open’: فتح fataḥ
In Dutch the word ‘key’ is ‘sleutel’ which is related to the verb ‘to close’: sluiten.
German is like Dutch: key = Schlüssel, to close: schließen

In English there seems to be no connection between the word key and a verb of closing or opening.
How is this in your language?
 
    • In Spanish we have llave for that, a word that comes from Latin clāvis, which itself may go back to a Proto-Indo-European root that, as far as I'm aware, had no relation with the verbs 'to open' or 'to close', but rather to a nail, a pin or some other kind of instrument used to lock and unlock doors. Llave is also not related to the aforementioned verbs in Spanish, which are abrir and cerrar, respectively, though it's true that cerradura (= 'lock') is related to the latter.

    I don't know about all of them, but at least most Romance languages (unsurprisingly ;)) derive their words for 'key' from the same Latin term.
     
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    In Greek it's «κλειδί» [kliˈði] (neut.), the Byzantine Greek neuter diminutive «κλειδί(ο)ν» /kliˈði.(o)n/ of the Ancient Greek 3rd declension feminine noun «κλείς» /kleːs/ (nom. sing.), «κλειδός» /kleː.ˈdos/ (gen. sing.) --> bar, bolt, hook, key, collar bone (PIE *kleh₂u- to lock an inherited IE word found in many languages: Lat. clāvis /ˈklaː.u̯is/ > It. chiave /ˈkja.ve/, Sp. llave /ˈʎa.βe/, Fr. clé-clef /kle/-/klef/, Rom. cheie /ˈke.je/; Proto-Slavic *ključь > Rus. ключ /klʲʉt͡ɕ/, BCMS кључ-ključ /kʎuːt͡ʃ/, Cz. klíč /kliːt͡ʃ/, Pol. klucz /klut͡ʂ/ etc.).
    matakoweg said:
    In English there seems to be no connection between the word key and a verb of closing or opening.
    How is this in your language?
    Click to expand...
    The denominative Ancient verb «κλείω» /ˈkleː.ɔː/ > MoGr «κλείνω» [ˈkli.no̞] derives from it --> to shut, block (AncGr), shut, close, block, turn off (MoGr).

    The denominative Ancient verb «κλειδόω» /kleːˈdo.ɔː/ (uncontracted), «κλειδῶ» /kleːˈdɔ̂ː/ (contracted) > MoGr «κλειδώνω» [kliˈðo̞.no̞] also derives from it --> to lock up.

    The verb for open is unrelated to the word for key: Ancient Greek «ἀνοίγνυμι» /ɐˈnø.gnymi/ a compound formed with the joining of the preposition «ἀνά» /ɐˈnɐ/ --> up along (PIE *h₂en- up, on high c.f. Avestan ana /aˈna/ (upwards, along), Proto-Germanic *ana > Eng. on, Dt. aan /aːn/, Ger. an /ʔan/ etc.) + athematic verb «οἴγνυμι» /ˈø.gnymi/ --> to open (PIE *h₃ueig- to give way c.f. Skt. वेग /ˈʋeː.ɡɐ/ (rapidity, speed), Avestan vaēɣa- (violent movement)). In Modern Greek the ancient verb has been simplified to «ανοίγω» [aˈni.ɣo̞] --> to open, unblock, turn on.

    Edit: Added «κλειδῶ»
     
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    Cymraeg/Welsh

    allwedd     (n.f.) Used in South Wales and also used for, e.g. the key to a diagram. Etymology unknown but definitely Brythonic Celtic (cf. the words in Cornish and Breton listed in GPC.)

    [a]goriad (n.m.) Used in North Wales. Etymology again Brythonic Celtic, with the first element 'agor' ('opening' verbal noun) and the adjectival suffix, -iad. (GPC)
     
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    matakoweg said:
    In English there seems to be no connection between the word key and a verb of closing or opening.
    How is this in your language?
    Click to expand...
    No direct connection in Russian either. A key is ключ (klyúch), quite an elementary word (etymologically it's connected to "hook"; cf. клюка klyuká "walking stick").

    The derived verbs in Russian include the ideas of turning on and off, incarceration, inclusion and exclusion, signing treaties. The main proto-Slavic derived verb with the meaning "to lock" (*kľučiti, freq. *kľučati) hasn't survived in Russian.
     
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    matakoweg said:
    In Dutch the word ‘key’ is ‘sleutel’ which is related to the verb ‘to close’: sluiten.
    German is like Dutch: key = Schlüssel, to close: schließen
    Click to expand...
    Swedish:
    Nyckel - key
    Öppna - open
    Sluta, stänga - lock, close

    It may seem as there is no connection between nyckel and sluta, but it's not true, as the word nyckel was once spelt lykil, it's a case of dissimilation of the l-l sound. Both nyckel and sluta are related to the Dutch and German words.
     
    Finnish:
    avain – key
    avata – to open
    lukko – lock
    lukita – to lock
     
    Hindi (I'm listing some of the common words, but there may be other synonyms):
    "chābī" – key (comes from Latin trough Portuguese) or maybe "kunjī" (from Sanskrit)
    "kholnā" – to open (from Prakrit)
    "tālā" – lock (from Sanskrit)
    maybe "tālā lagānā" – to lock (I don't think there is a single word for this, so it is a compound meaning "to put a lock")

    Source for etymologies: Wiktionary
     
    סייבר־שד said:
    In Spanish we have llave for that, a word that comes from Latin clāvis, which itself may go back to a Proto-Indo-European root that, as far as I'm aware, had no relation with the verbs 'to open' or 'to close', but rather to a nail, a pin or some other kind of instrument used to lock and unlock doors.
    Click to expand...
    Yes indeed :thumbsup: The ancient way to lock a door was just to pass a nail through a ring, hence the common etymology between Latin clavis (key) and clavus (nail).

    It's the same in French: clé or clef* also come from Latin clavis.

    (*) Both spellings are correct, although clef is less common nowadays. Clef is the older form, but it progressively became clé because of the odd plural spelling "clefs".
     
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    A 'clef' of course being 'the key pitch' in which a piece of music is played in - high ('treble clef') or low ('bass clef'). (And don't ask an English speaker how to translate a roman à clef ...). It's only in the last one that the <f> is not sounded.
     
    Welsh_Sion said:
    (And don't ask an English speaker how to translate a roman à clef ...). It's only in the last one that the <f> is not sounded.
    Click to expand...
    Oh yes, I've forgotten to specify it about French: whether it's spelled clé or clef, it's always pronounced /kle/.

    Welsh_Sion said:
    A 'clef' of course being 'the key pitch' in which a piece of music is played in - high ('treble clef') or low ('bass clef').
    Click to expand...
    In French, the music pitch symbol is called indifferently clé or clef.
    G-clef = clé/clef de Sol [kle də sɔl]

    cle-sol-portee_442X230.gif
     
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    Yendred said:
    Yes indeed :thumbsup: The ancient way to lock a door was just to pass a nail through a ring, hence the common etymology between Latin clavis (key) and clavus (nail).
    Click to expand...

    Which merged in Catalan, as we have clau for both key and nail. The only difference is that the key is feminine, la clau, and the nail is masculine, el clau, maintaining the Latin genders.
     
    All the Romance people here allude to clavis as the origin of their word for 'key'. (See also English/French etc. clavier for 'a (musical) keyboard'.)

    As I haven't mentioned it previously, the following may be of interest to those pursuing Celtic etymologies. (The different dialects' words for 'key' are above.)

    a lock (noun)

    clo /klo:/ (n.m.) (Welsh)
    clou, klao (Breton). The latter is from a postulated Brythonic word *clāu (The <u> being the semi-consonant)
    cló (Old Irish)

    locking (verbal noun) ( > 'to lock')

    cloi /klɔɪ/ (vn) (Welsh)
     
    Yendred said:
    Oh yes, I've forgotten to specify it about French: whether it's spelled clé or clef, it's always pronounced /kle/.


    In French, the music pitch symbol is called indifferently clé or clef.
    G-clef = clé/clef de Sol [kle də sɔl]

    cle-sol-portee_442X230.gif
    Click to expand...
    I think (maybe I'm wrong) that the spelling clef remains more common in music than for the physical key you use to lock a door).
     
    matakoweg said:
    In Dutch the word ‘key’ is ‘sleutel’ which is related to the verb ‘to close’ >>>"to lock" : sluiten.
    German is like Dutch: key = Schlüssel, to close >>>"to lock": schließen
    Click to expand...
    Very interesting observation. Had never thought of that. But I am fairly that the English verb that you can associate wiith keys is "to lock". Closing is generally (only) making sure that there no space between door and wall, so I think.
     
    Yendred said:
    Yes indeed :thumbsup: The ancient way to lock a door was just to pass a nail through a ring, hence the common etymology between Latin clavis (key) and clavus (nail).
    Click to expand...
    I thought it might be useful to mention that French and Latin refer to locking or closing, as in conclure and in the (é)clore (flowers opening and closing so to speak). If I am not mistaken, @Yendred!
     
    ThomasK said:
    I thought it might be useful to mention that French and Latin refer to locking or closing, as in conclure and in the (é)clore (flowers opening and closing so to speak). If I am not mistaken, @Yendred!
    Click to expand...
    Not exactly.

    Clore means « to close ». It is archaic and generally replaced by fermer except in formal speech : clore un débat, clore une session but fermer une porte (a door).

    Éclore is used for flowers (open, bloom) and eggs (hatch).

    Conclure is to put an end, mostly to a speech or a text. Re : conclusion.

    Clore     and éclore are irregular and defective verbs (their conjugations lack certain forms). For that reason, more regular verbs (first group en -er) tend to replace them.
     
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