On the Development and Distribution of Primitive Locks and Keys

Lieut.-General PITT-RIVERS, F.R.S.
ILLUSTRATED BY SPECIMENS IN THE PITT-RIVERS COLLECTION.
LONDON: CHATTO AND WINDUS, PICCADILLY.
1883.
LONDON: HARRISON AND SONS, PRINTERS IN ORDINARY TO HER MAJESTY, ST. MARTIN'S LANE.
ON THE DEVELOPMENT AND DISTRIBUTION OF PRIMITIVE LOCKS AND KEYS.
Etymology of words for Locks and Keys:— Klu, the Greco-Italian base, to lock (Fick), from the Sanskrit Klu, to move (Benfey and Monier Williams); Klavi, key (Fick); κλϵὶς, Greek, a key; κλϵὶστρον, Greek, a bolt or bar; Claustrum, Latin, a lock, bar, or bolt; Claudo, Latin, to close or shut; Clausum, Latin, an enclosed space; Clausura, Latin, a castle; Clavis, Latin, a key; Clavus, Latin, a nail; Clef, French, a key; Clou, French, a nail; Clo, Gaelic, a nail, pin, or peg; Clo, Irish, a nail or pin; Glas, Irish, a lock; Clo, Welsh, a lock; Clar, Bourguignon, a key; Clau, French provincial, a key; Clav, old Spanish, a key; Chiave, Italian, a key; Chave, Portuguese, a key; Close, English, to shut. From the same root, Klu, to move, comes also Sklu (Skeat), from which is derived the Teutonic Slut, to shut, and from thence the Dutch Slot, a lock, and also a castle, from Sluiten, to shut; old Friesic Slot, from Sluta, to shut; Low German Slot. Thus also the English provincial word Slot, a bolt; Schloss, German, a lock, and also a castle; Schlüssel, German, a key. From the Latin Sero, to put, comes Sera, Latin, a movable bar or bolt; Serrure, French, a lock; Serratura, Italian, a lock. The French word Verrou, a bolt; Wallon Verou or Ferou; Bourguignon Varullo; Provincial Verroth, Berroth, and Ferroth; Portuguese Ferrolho. The forms in f appear to indicate a derivation from the Latin ferrum, iron. The English word Lock is derived from the Teutonic base, Luck, to lock (Fick); Loc, Anglo-Saxon, a lock; Lock, Friesic, a lock; Lukke, Danish, a lock; Loca, Icelandic, a lock or latch, or the lid of a chest; Lock, Swedish, a lid; Loke, Wallon; Luycke, Flemish; Loquet, French, a catch. In Early English it was pronounced loke (Skeat). The English word Latch is probably the same as the Danish Laas, a lock; Las, Swedish, a lock; Luchetto, Italian, a latch. Skeat derives it from the Anglo-Saxon word lœccan, to seize; in Early English it was pronounced Lacche, and he suggests the probability of its being derived from the Latin word Laqueus, a snare, but this is doubtful. Hasp, English, is derived from the Teutonic base, Hapsa; Hæpsa, Anglo-Saxon; Hespa, Icelandic; Haspe, Danish; Haspe, Swedish; Haspe, German. Moraillon, the French word for hasp, is of uncertain origin, but Littré supposes it to be derived from the provincial Mor, a muzzle, probably the French word Mors, a bit; Morsum, Latin, a bit or a little piece; Morsus, Latin, a bite, as well as the English Muzzle and Nozzle, are all derived from the same root. Clef bénarde, a key that is not piped (forée) (Hamilton and Legros) or furnished with grooves, and which can be opened from both sides, is from Bernard, which in old French signifies a fool, hence a clef bernarde or bénarde is an inferior kind of key (Littré). The English word Key was derived from the Anglo-Saxon Cæg by the change of g into y; old Friesic Kai and Kei. The English word Bolt, which is now applied to the most primitive form of the mechanism, and probably the one from which the others took their origin, appears to have been obtained from the Anglo-Saxon word Bolt, a catapult. Thus we have the Danish Bolt, an iron pin; Bout, Dutch, a bolt or pin; Bolz, German, and it appears to have been adopted from its resemblance to the bolt or arrow used with the catapult. Crabb ('Technical Dictionary of Arts and Sciences') thinks it comes from the Latin Pello, to drive, and the Greek Ballo, to cast, and that it has thus been applied to anything shooting, as a bolt of a door, or a bird bolt, whilst Skeat supposes it to have been named like bolster from its roundness.