key

pronunciation

How to pronounce key in British English: UK [kiː] word uk audio image

How to pronounce key in American English: US [kiː] word us audio image

Noun:

metal device shaped in such a way that when it is inserted into the appropriate lock the lock's mechanism can be rotated
something crucial for explaining
pitch of the voice
any of 24 major or minor diatonic scales that provide the tonal framework for a piece of music
a kilogram of a narcotic drug
a winged often one-seed indehiscent fruit as of the ash or elm or maple
a coral reef off the southern coast of Florida
(basketball) a space (including the foul line) in front of the basket at each end of a basketball court; usually painted a different color from the rest of the court
a list of answers to a test
a list of words or phrases that explain symbols or abbreviations
a generic term for any device whose possession entitles the holder to a means of access
mechanical device used to wind another device that is driven by a spring (as a clock)
the central building block at the top of an arch or vault
a lever that actuates a mechanism when depressed
Verb:

identify as in botany or biology, for example
provide with a key
vandalize a car by scratching the sides with a key
regulate the musical pitch of
harmonize with or adjust to
Adjective:

serving as an essential component
effective; producing a desired effect

Word Origin

key: key: [OE] The Old English ancestor of key was cǣg. This produced a modern English word which to begin with was pronounced to rhyme with bay, and its present-day pronunciation, rhyming with bee, did not come to the fore until the 18th century. No one knows where the word originally came from; it has no living relatives in other Germanic languages.

key (n.1): "metal piece that works a lock," from Old English cæg "key," of unknown origin, with no certain cognates other than Old Frisian kei. Perhaps related to Middle Low German keie "lance, spear" on notion of "tool to cleave with," from Proto-Germanic *ki- "to cleaver, split" (cognates: German Keil "wedge," Gothic us-kijans "come forth," said of seed sprouts, keinan "to germinate"). But Liberman writes, "The original meaning of *kaig-jo- was presumably '*pin with a twisted end.' Words with the root *kai- followed by a consonant meaning 'crooked, bent; twisted' are common only in the North Germanic languages." Modern pronunciation is a northern variant predominating from c. 1700; earlier it was often spelled and pronounced kay. Figurative sense of "that which serves to open or explain" was in Old English; meaning "that which holds together other parts" is from 1520s. As "answer to a test," it is from chess, short for key move, "first move in a solution to a set problem." Musical sense of "tone, note" is 15c., but modern sense of "scale" is 1580s, probably as a translation of Latin clavis or French clef (see clef; also see keynote). Extended c. 1500 to "mechanism on a musical instrument." As a verb meaning "to scratch (a car's paint job) with a key" it is recorded by 1986.

key (n.2): "low island," 1690s, from Spanish cayo "shoal, reef," from Taino cayo "small island;" spelling influenced by Middle English key "wharf" (c. 1300), from Old French kai "sand bank" (see quay).