Meaning and Origin
What does the name Key mean? Keep reading to find the user submitted meanings, dictionary definitions, and more.
Origin and Meaning of Key
User Submitted Origins
English
90%
Korean
10%
User Submitted Meanings
- A submission from Florida, U.S. says the name Key means "The Unlocking Truth. Open Doors" and is of English origin.
- A user from Texas, U.S. says the name Key is of English origin and means "Small but important".
International Interest
Also see international interest
Webster's Unabridged Dictionary
noun Key
Senses
- An instrument by means of which the bolt of a lock is shot or drawn; usually, a removable metal instrument fitted to the mechanism of a particular lock and operated by turning in its place.
- A small device which is inserted into a mechanism and turned like a key to fasten, adjust, or wind it; as, a watch key; a bed key; the winding key for a clock, etc.
- One of a set of small movable parts on an instrument or machine which, by being depressed, serves as the means of operating it; the complete set of keys is usually called the keyboard; as, the keys of a piano, an organ, an accordion, a computer keyboard, or of a typewriter. The keys may operate parts of the instrument by a mechanical action, as on a piano, or by closing an electrical circuit, as on a computer keyboard. See also senses 12 and 13.
- A position or condition which affords entrance, control, pr possession, etc.; as, the key of a line of defense; the key of a country; the key of a political situation.Hence,that which serves to unlock, open, discover, or solve something unknown or difficult; as, the key to a riddle; the key to a problem. Similarly, see also senses 14 and 15."Those who are accustomed to reason have got the true key of books." [Locke.]"Who keeps the keys of all the creeds." [Tennyson.]
- That part of a mechanism which serves to lock up, make fast, or adjust to position.
- [Arch]
- A piece of wood used as a wedge.
- The last board of a floor when laid down.
- A piece of wood used as a wedge.
- [Masonry]
- A keystone.
- That part of the plastering which is forced through between the laths and holds the rest in place.
- A keystone.
- [Mach]
- A wedge to unite two or more pieces, or adjust their relative position; a cotter; a forelock.
Illusts
Cotter
Gib - A bar, pin or wedge, to secure a crank, pulley, coupling, etc., upon a shaft, and prevent relative turning; sometimes holding by friction alone, but more frequently by its resistance to shearing, being usually embedded partly in the shaft and partly in the crank, pulley, etc.
- A wedge to unite two or more pieces, or adjust their relative position; a cotter; a forelock.
- [Bot] An indehiscent, one-seeded fruit furnished with a wing, as the fruit of the ash and maple; a samara; -- called also key fruit.
- [Mus]
- A family of tones whose regular members are called diatonic tones, and named key tone (or tonic) or one (or eight), mediant or three, dominant or five, subdominant or four, submediant or six, supertonic or two, and subtonic or seven. Chromatic tones are temporary members of a key, under such names as “ sharp four,” “flat seven,” etc. Scales and tunes of every variety are made from the tones of a key.
- The fundamental tone of a movement to which its modulations are referred, and with which it generally begins and ends; keynote.
"Both warbling of one song, both in one key." [Shak.]
- A family of tones whose regular members are called diatonic tones, and named key tone (or tonic) or one (or eight), mediant or three, dominant or five, subdominant or four, submediant or six, supertonic or two, and subtonic or seven. Chromatic tones are temporary members of a key, under such names as “ sharp four,” “flat seven,” etc. Scales and tunes of every variety are made from the tones of a key.
- Fig: The general pitch or tone of a sentence or utterance."You fall at once into a lower key." [Cowper.]
- [Teleg] A metallic lever by which the circuit of the sending or transmitting part of a station equipment may be easily and rapidly opened and closed; as, a telegraph key .
- any device for closing or opening an electric circuit, especially as part of a keyboard, as that used at a computer terminal or teletype terminal.
- A simplified version or analysis which accompanies something as a clue to its explanation, a book or table containing the solutions to problems, ciphers, allegories, or the like;or[Biol] a table or synopsis of conspicuous distinguishing characters of members of a taxonomic group.
- [Computers] A word or other combination of symbols which serves as an index identifying and pointing to a particular record, file, or location which can be retrieved and displayed by a computer program; as, a database using multi-word keys . When the key is a word, it is also called a keyword.
Etymology: OE. keye key kay, AS. cæg
verb Key
Senses
- To fasten or secure firmly; to fasten or tighten with keys or wedges.
- [Computers] To enter (text, data) using keys, especially those on a keyboard; to keyboard; as, to key the data in by hand.
- To adjust so as to be maximally effective in a particular situation; -- of actions, plans, or speech; as, to key one's campaign speech to each local audience.
- To furnish with a key or keys.
adjective key
Essential; most important; as, the key fact in the inquiry; the president was the key player inthe negotiations.
Other Dictionary Sources
- Metal device shaped in such a way that when it is inserted into the appropriate lock the lock's mechanism can be rotated
- A lever (as in a keyboard) that actuates a mechanism when depressed
- The central building block at the top of an arch or vault
- Mechanical device used to wind another device that is driven by a spring (as a clock)
- Pitch of the voice ("he spoke in a low key")
- Something crucial for explaining ("the key to development is economic integration")
- A generic term for any device whose possession entitles the holder to a means of access ("a safe-deposit box usually requires two keys to open it")
- A list of words or phrases that explain symbols or abbreviations
- A list of answers to a test ("some students had stolen the key to the final exam")
- Any of 24 major or minor diatonic scales that provide the tonal framework for a piece of music
- (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 ("he hit a jump shot from the top of the key")
- A coral reef off the southern coast of Florida
- United States lawyer and poet who wrote a poem after witnessing the British attack on Baltimore during the War of 1812; the poem was later set to music and entitled `The Star-Spangled Banner' (1779-1843)
- A winged often one-seed indehiscent fruit as of the ash or elm or maple
- A kilogram of a narcotic drug ("they were carrying two keys of heroin")
- Harmonize with or adjust to ("key one's actions to the voters' prevailing attitude")
- Regulate the musical pitch of
- Identify as in botany or biology, for example
- Vandalize a car by scratching the sides with a key ("His new Mercedes was keyed last night in the parking lot")
- Provide with a key ("We were keyed after the locks were changed in the building")
- Serving as an essential component
Wiktionary
- A surname.