Latch

Part of speech: noun, verb

Pronunciation: /læt͡ʃ/

Definitions

1. A fastening device that holds a door or gate closed, typically operated by lifting a lever or bar
2. A mechanism used to fasten a door or gate in a closed position through the movement of a lever or a sliding bolt
3. A device for holding doors or gates securely closed by means of a movable bar or catch ; an electronic circuit that stores and maintains a signal until changed by an input

Etymology: The most surprising thing about "latch" is that its original sense was not a door fastening at all but the act of grasping. Old English "læċċan" meant "to grasp, take hold of, catch, seize," and the Middle English verb "lacchen" carried the same idea of seizing something. The noun for a fastening came from that verb: a latch was, in effect, the thing that caught hold of a door and kept it shut. The word has deep roots in Germanic speech. Its ancestor, reconstructed as Proto-Germanic "*lakjaną," meant "to seize," and it is related to Middle Dutch "lakken," which also meant "to grasp" or "catch." Earlier still, the root traces back to a Proto-Indo-European form meaning "to take" or "seize," though the story English speakers care about is the Old English one. Meanwhile, the Middle English noun "latche" or "lacche" could mean a trap as well as a fastening, which shows how closely the idea of catching and holding was tied to the object. A door latch and a snare both worked by seizing something and holding it in place.

Synonyms: bolt, fastener, catch, clasp, lock

Antonyms: unlock, release