Latchet

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A type of fastening mechanism used to secure doors, gates, or lids, typically involving a catch and bar that hold parts closed
2. A mechanical device designed to keep objects closed by means of a movable bar or catch that locks in place
3. An apparatus that fastens objects such as doors or boxes by using a catch which can be released to open them

Etymology: Latchet has a surprising connection to the word "lace." It came into Middle English as "lachet," borrowed from Old French "lachet," a diminutive of "lacet," itself a diminutive of "laz," meaning "lace" or "snare." The small-thing suffix tells you the original sense was a little cord or thong, the kind used to fasten something shut, before the word narrowed to a mechanism. Those cords and laces were the ancestors of the modern fastening. A latchet was a strap or thong that held a door or shoe closed, and the word's later sense of a bar or catch that drops into place grew out of that idea of a tied-down fastening. The same family gave English "latch," which in turn gave "latchet" its present-day form as a noun for a locking device.

Synonyms: lace, strap