key

Definition from Wiktionary, the free dictionary
Jump to: navigation, search

Contents

[edit] English

A key (object designed to open and close a lock)
A numeric keypad with 16 keys
The keys of a musical keyboard.

[edit] Pronunciation

[edit] Etymology 1

From Middle English key(e), kay(e) (“key”), from Old English cǣġ, cǣġe, cǣga (“key, solution, experiment”), from Proto-Germanic *kaigijô (“key”), of uncertain origin and affiliation. Cognate with Old Frisian kēi(e), kāi(e) (West Frisian kaai, “key”), Old English cǣggian (“to lock, shut”). Perhaps related to Middle Dutch keige (“javelin, spear”), Middle Low German keie, keige (“spear”).

[edit] Noun

key (plural keys)

  1. An object designed to open and close a lock.
  2. An object designed to fit between two other objects (such as a shaft and a wheel) in a mechanism and maintain their relative orientation.
  3. A crucial step or requirement.
    the key to solving this problem...
    the key to winning this game
  4. A guide explaining the symbols or terminology of a map or chart; a legend.
    The key says that A stands for the accounting department.
  5. A guide to the correct answers of a worksheet or test.
    Some students cheated by using the answer key.
  6. (computing) One of several small, usually square buttons on a typewriter or computer keyboard, most of which generally correspond to a particular character.
    Press the Escape key.
  7. (music) One of a number of rectangular moving parts on a piano or musical keyboard, each causing a particular sound or note to be produced.
  8. (music) One of various levers on a musical instrument used to select notes, such as a lever opening a hole on a woodwind.
  9. (music) A hierarchical scale of musical notes on which a composition is based
    the key of B-flat major
  10. (historical) A manual electrical switching device primarily used for the transmission of Morse code.
  11. (cryptography) A piece of information (e.g. a passphrase) used to encode or decode a message or messages.
  12. (computing) In a relational database, a field used as an index into another table (not necessarily unique).
  13. (computing) A value that uniquely identifies an entry in an associative array.
  14. (basketball) The free-throw lane together with the circle surrounding the free-throw line, the free-throw lane having formerly been narrower, giving the area the shape of a skeleton key hole.
    He shoots from the top of the key.
  15. (biology) A series of logically organized groups of discriminating information which aims to allow the user to correctly identify a taxon.
  16. (slang) kilogram
[edit] Derived terms
Derived terms
[edit] Translations
device designed to open and close a lock
object used to maintain the orientation between two others
crucial step
button on a typewriter or computer keyboard
part of a piano or musical keyboard
scale of musical notes
device used to transmit Morse code
cryptography: piece of information used to encode or decode
computing: field of a database constrained to be unique
computing: field in a record used as a search argument
computing: value uniquely identifying entry in associative array
in basketball
small guide explaining symbols or terminology
The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Help:How to check translations.
Translations to be checked
[edit] See also

[edit] Adjective

key (comparative more key, superlative most key)

  1. Indispensable.
    He is the key player for his soccer team.
    He is the key witness.
    • 2011 September 29, Jon Smith, “Tottenham 3 - 1 Shamrock Rovers”, BBC Sport:
      With the north London derby to come at the weekend, Spurs boss Harry Redknapp opted to rest many of his key players, although he brought back Aaron Lennon after a month out through injury.
  2. Important, salient.
    She makes several key points
[edit] Translations
indispensable
important

[edit] Verb

key (third-person singular simple present keys, present participle keying, simple past and past participle keyed)

  1. To fit (a lock) with a key.
  2. To fit (pieces of a mechanical assembly) with a key to maintain the orientation between them.
  3. To mark or indicate with a symbol indicating membership in a class.
    • 1996 January, Garden Dsign Ideas, second printing, Taunton Press, ISBN 1561580791, page 25,
      So I worked on a tissue-paper copy of the perimeter plan, outlining groupings of plants of the same species and keying them with letters for the species.
    • 2001, Bruce M. Metzger, The Bible in Translation, ISBN 0801022827, page 87,
      The volume closes with thirty pages of "Notes, critical and explanatory," in which Thomson provides seventy-six longer or shorter notes keyed to specific sections of the synopsis.
    • 2002, Karen Bromley, Stretching Students' Vocabulary, ISBN 0439288398, page 12,
      Talk about similarities between the words and write them below to the left of the anchor, keying them with a plus sign (+). Talk about the characteristics that set the words apart and list them below the box to the right, keying them with a tilde sign (~).
    • 2007, Stephen Blake Mettee, Michelle Doland, and Doris Hall, compilers, The American Directory of Writer's Guidelines, 6th ("2007–2008") edition, ISBN 1884956580, page 757,
      Indicate the comparative value of each heading by keying it with a number in pencil, in the left margin, as follows: […]
  4. (telegraphy and radio telegraphy) To depress (a telegraph key).
  5. (radio) To operate (the transmitter switch of a two-way radio).
  6. (computing) (more usually to key in) To enter (information) by typing on a keyboard or keypad.
    Our instructor told us to key in our user IDs.
  7. (colloquial) To vandalize (a car, etc.) by scratching with an implement such as a key.
    He keyed the car that had taken his parking spot.
  8. To link (as one might do with a key or legend).
    • 1960, Richard L. Masland, "Classification of the Epilepsies", in Epilepsia, volume 1, page 516,
      The American Heart Association has prepared their own guide to classification and, keying it with the Standard Nomenclature of Diseases, have done much to encourage a concise yet complete diagnosis.
    • 1976, Nicholas Askounes Ashford, Crisis in the Workplace: Occupational Disease and Injury[1], page 19:
      The workman's compensation system rests on incentives (premium payments) that are keyed to the immediate and relatively undeniable nature of injuries; […]
    • 2006, Deborah Blum, Mary Knudson and Robin Marantz Henig, A Field Guide for Science Writers: The Official Guide of the National Association of Science Writers[2], page 63:
      It also features special issues on "Live Longer, Better, Wiser," men's health, women's health, and issues keyed to important "disease weeks."
  9. (intransitive) (biology, chiefly taxonomy) To be identified as a certain taxon when using a key.
[edit] Derived terms
[edit] Translations
fit (a lock) with a key
fit (pieces of a mechanical assembly) with a key
telegraphy: depress (a telegraph key)
radio: operate (transmitter switch of a two-way radio)
computing: enter (information)

[edit] Etymology 2

Variant of cay, from Spanish cayo.

[edit] Alternative forms

[edit] Noun

key (plural keys)

  1. One of a string of small islands.
    "the Florida Keys"
[edit] Translations
small island

[edit] Anagrams

[edit] Kurdish

[edit] Adverb

key

  1. (Soranî Kurdish) when

[edit] Manx

[edit] Noun

key m.

  1. cream

[edit] Derived terms

Retrieved from "http://en.wiktionary.org/w/index.php?title=key&oldid=16206537"
Personal tools
Namespaces
Variants
Views
Actions
Navigation
Toolbox
In other languages