latch - Wiktionary, the free dictionary (original) (raw)

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary

From Middle English lacchen (“to seize, catch, grasp”, verb), from Old English læċċan (“to grasp, take hold of, catch, seize”), from Proto-Germanic *lakjaną, *lakwijaną, *lakkijaną (“to seize”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)leh₂g-, *(s)leh₂gʷ- (“to take, seize”). Cognate with Middle Dutch lakken (“to grasp, catch”).

latch (third-person singular simple present latches, present participle latching, simple past and past participle latched or (obsolete) laught)

  1. To close or lock as if with a latch.
  2. (transitive) To catch; lay hold of.
  3. (databases) To use a latch (kind of lightweight lock).
  4. (of a breastfeeding baby) To connect to the breast.

From Middle English latche, lacche (“a latch; a trap”), from lacchen (“to seize, catch, grasp”), from Old English læċċan (“to grasp, take hold of, catch, seize”). See above for more.

latch (plural latches)

A latch

  1. A fastening for a door that has a bar that fits into a notch or slot, and is lifted by a lever or string from either side.
  2. (electronics) An electronic circuit that is like a flip-flop, except that it is level triggered instead of edge triggered.
  3. (obsolete) A latching.
  4. (obsolete) A crossbow.
  5. (obsolete) That which fastens or holds; a lace; a snare.
  6. A breastfeeding baby's connection to the breast.
  7. (databases) A lightweight lock to protect internal structures from being modified by multiple concurrent accesses.

fastening for a door

flip-flop electronic circuit

crossbow

Compare French lécher (“to lick”).

latch (third-person singular simple present latches, present participle latching, simple past and past participle latched)

  1. (obsolete) To smear; to anoint.