log
pronunciation
How to pronounce log in British English:
UK [lɒɡ]
How to pronounce log in American English:
US [lɔːɡ]
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- Noun:
- a segment of the trunk of a tree when stripped of branches
- large log at the back of a hearth fire
- the exponent required to produce a given number
- a written record of messages sent or received
- a written record of events on a voyage (of a ship or plane)
- measuring instrument that consists of a float that trails from a ship by a knotted line in order to measure the ship's speed through the water
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- Verb:
- enter into a log, as on ships and planes
- cut lumber, as in woods and forests
Word Origin
- log
- log: [14] Log is a mystery word. It first turns up (in the sense ‘felled timber’) towards the end of the 14th century, but it has no ascertainable relatives in any other language. Nor is it altogether clear how the sense ‘ship’s record’ came about. It was inspired by the use of log for a thin piece of wood floated in the water from a line to determine the speed of a ship, but some etymologists have speculated that this is not the same word as log ‘piece of timber’, but was adapted from Arabic lauh ‘tablet’.
- log (n.1)
- unshaped large piece of tree, early 14c., of unknown origin. Old Norse had lag "felled tree" (from stem of liggja "to lie"), but on phonological grounds many etymologists deny that this is the root of English log. Instead, they suggest an independent formation meant to "express the notion of something massive by a word of appropriate sound." OED compares clog (n.) in its original Middle English sense "lump of wood." Log cabin (1770) in American English has been a figure of the honest pioneer since the 1840 presidential campaign of William Henry Harrison. Falling off a log as a type of something easy to do is from 1839.
- log (v.2)
- "to enter into a log-book," 1823, from log (n.2). Meaning "to attain (a speed) as noted in a log" is recorded by 1883. Related: Logged; logging.
- log (n.2)
- "record of observations, readings, etc.," 1842, sailor's shortening of log-book "daily record of a ship's speed, progress, etc." (1670s), from log (n.1). The book so called because a wooden float at the end of a line was cast out to measure a ship's speed. General sense by 1913.
- log (v.1)
- "to fell a tree," 1717; earlier "to strip a tree" (1690s), from log (n.1). Related: Logged; logging.
Example
- 1. Full change log can beread here .
- 2. Keep a log of keywords that apply to your occupation and industry .
- 3. One day such implanted electrodes might let us log and play back our thoughts and dreams .
- 4. Instead of having to log onto 3 banks to check 3 different balances , I 'd rather just check one .
- 5. Charity workers are also using tablet computers to log details instantly , providing better data and earlier warnings of new patterns .