FromMiddle Englishkeye,kaye,keiȝe, fromOld Englishcǣġ(“key, solution, experiment”) (whence alsoScotskey andkay(“key”)), of uncertain origin.[1] The only sure cognates are Saterland FrisianKoai(“key”),West Frisiankaai(“key”), andNorth Frisiankay(“key”). Possibly fromProto-Germanic*kēgaz,*kēguz(“stake, post, pole”), fromProto-Indo-European*ǵogʰ-,*ǵegʰ-,*ǵegʰn-(“branch, stake, bush”), which would make it cognate withMiddle Low Germankāk(“whipping post, pillory”), and perhaps toMiddle Dutchkeige(“javelin, spear”) andMiddle Low Germankeie,keige(“spear”). For the semantic development, note that medieval keys were simply long poles (ending in a hook) with which a crossbar obstructing a door from the inside could be removed from the outside, by lifting it through a hole in the door. Liberman has noted, however, "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."[2]
We tiptoed into the house, up the stairs and along the hall into the room where the Professor had been spending so much of his time. 'Twas locked, of course, but the Deacon man got a big bunch ofkeys out of his pocket and commenced to putter with the lock.
An object designed to fit between two other objects (such as ashaft and awheel) in a mechanism and maintain their relativeorientation.
In instruments with akeyboard such as anorgan orpiano, one of the levers, or especially the exposed front end of it, which are depressed to cause a particular sound or note to be produced.
(music) A scale or group of pitches constituting the basis of a musical composition.
A girl, it is true, has always lived in a glass house among reproving relatives, whose word was law; she has been bred up to sacrifice her judgments and take thekey submissively from dear papa; and it is wonderful how swiftly she can change her tune into the husband's.
2. Queen.[…]Deere Glasse of Ladies Bid him that we whom flaming war doth scortch, Vnder the shaddow of his Sword, may coole us: Require him he advance it ore our heades; Speak't in a womanskey: like such a woman As any of us three; weepe ere you faile; lend us a knee; But touch the ground for us no longer time Then a Doves motion, when the head's pluckt off: Tell him if he i'th blood cizd field, lay swolne Showing the Sun his Teeth; grinning at the Moone What you would doe.
Another popular way to key ads and mailings is to use a suite number, room number, department number, desk number, etc. as part of the ordering address. With a classified ad, using such akey may increase your ad cost.
(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 askeleton key hole.
2004, Mark Schmidt, Simon Robinson,Microsoft Visual C# .NET 2003 Developer's Cookbook, page195:
You can easily create this type of user interface by creating a bitmap with certain portions set to a predefined color you want to use as the transparencykey.
2016, Jerry C. Whitaker,The SBE Broadcast Engineering Handbook:
There arekey controls that adjust the “slice level” or the level at which thekey kicks-in and starts cutting a hole for the “fill”[…] Chroma key is another form of keying, which derives the key cutter or hole from a selected color.
biology: information to correctly identify a taxon—seeclavis
The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions atWiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
2007, Mark H. Moss,Shopping as an Entertainment Experience, page46:
Lukas intimates that one of Disney'skey attractions was "Main Street USA,” which "mimicked a downtown business district just as Southdale" had done.
2014 October 14, David Malcolm, “The Great War Re-Remembered: Allohistory and Allohistorical Fiction”, in Martin Löschnigg, Marzena Sokolowska-Paryz, editors,The Great War in Post-Memory Literature and Film[2],Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG.,→ISBN, page173:
The question of the plausibility of the counter-factual is seen askey in all three discussions of allohistorical fiction (as it is in Demandt's and Ferguson's examinations of allohistory) (cf. Rodiek 25–26; Ritter 15–16; Helbig 32).
Throughout the 1500s, the populace roiled over a constellation of grievances of which the forest emerged as akey focal point. The popular late Middle Ages fictional character Robin Hood, dressed in green to symbolize the forest, dodged fines for forest offenses and stole from the rich to give to the poor. But his appeal was painfully real and embodied the struggle over wood.
2011 September 29, Jon Smith, “Tottenham 3 - 1 Shamrock Rovers”, inBBC Sport[4]:
With the north London derby to come at the weekend, Spurs boss Harry Redknapp opted to rest many of hiskey players, although he brought back Aaron Lennon after a month out through injury.
1996 January,Garden Dsign Ideas, second printing,Taunton Press,→ISBN, page25:
So I worked on a tissue-paper copy of the perimeter plan, outlining groupings of plants of the same species andkeying them with letters for the species.
2001, Bruce M. Metzger,The Bible in Translation,→ISBN, page87:
The volume closes with thirty pages of "Notes, critical and explanatory," in which Thomson provides seventy-six longer or shorter noteskeyed to specific sections of the synopsis.
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, page 757,
Indicate the comparative value of each heading bykeying it with a number in pencil, in the left margin, as follows:[…]
1960, Richard L. Masland, “Classification of the Epilepsies”, inEpilepsia, volume 1, page516:
The American Heart Association has prepared their own guide to classification and,keying it with theStandard 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[5], page19:
The workman's compensation system rests on incentives (premium payments) that arekeyed to the immediate and relatively undeniable nature ofinjuries;[…]
2006, Deborah Blum, Mary Knudson, Robin Marantz Henig,A Field Guide for Science Writers: The Official Guide of the National Association of Science Writers[6], page63:
It also features special issues on "Live Longer, Better, Wiser," men's health, women's health, and issueskeyed to important "disease weeks."
1936, John Freeman Pyle,Marketing Principles, Organization and Policies, page711:
Keying advertisements and counting the number of inquiries received or the number of coupons returned to indicate the "pulling power" of a particular piece of copy or the coverage of a particular advertising medium.
1998,Mail Order Success Secrets:
Another popular way tokey ads and mailings is to use a suite number, room number, department number, desk number, etc. as part of the ordering address. With a classified ad, using such a key may increase your ad cost. Why? Because you're using an extra word or two tokey the ad.
2021 September 11, Anina Ot, “What Is a Green Screen and How Does It Work?”, inMakeUseOf[7]:
Afterkeying the background, you’d be left with a transparent background, where you can install anything—from images to videos that blend seamlessly into the main subject of the shot.
So starting with tenkeys of cocaine and twokeys of heroin, Derrick put his plan in motion. Soon every major drug dealer and gang chief from Chicago Avenue to Evanston was in his pocket.
2000, “Luke 11”, in Joseph Grimes, transl.,Da Jesus Book: Hawaii Pidgin New Testament[8], Wycliffe Bible Translators,→ISBN,page200:
“Auwe, you teachas dat teach God’s Rules! You guys goin get it! You guys donno wat God say, an you no let da peopo dat like know wat he say find out. Jalike you guys wen take away dakey fo open da door so peopo can know wat God stay say.”
“A curse is on you, teachers of the law! for you have taken away thekey of knowledge: you did not go in yourselves, and you got in the way of those who were going in.”
