Key sb.¹

Forms: 1 cæʓ, cæʓe, (kæʓe, kaiʓe), 2 kæie, 3 keiȝe, pl. keyȝen, keien, 4 keyȝe; 3–4 kai, 3–8 kay, (4 cay, kaie, pl. caiss), 4–6 kaye, (5–6 pl. kaies); 3–6 keye, (pl. keis), 3–7 keie, 5–7 kee, 7 kie; 4– key, (pl. 4–6 -es, 4– -s) [OE. cǽʓ str. f. (pl. cǽʓa) and cǽʓe wk. f. (pl. cǽʓan) = OFris. kei, kay; not found in the other Teut. languages; ulterior etym. unknown.

  The mod. pronunciation (kī) is abnormal. The other OE. words ending in -ǽʓ have uniformly mod. (ēⁱ), as clǽʓ clay, grǽʓ grey, gray, hwǽʓ whey; and that key had the same vowel as these in ME. is proved not only by the frequent spelling kay, but by its constantly rhyming with day, way, say, play, etc. This was evidently the standard pron. down to the close of the 17th c.; Dryden has the rhyme with way more than once in one of his latest works (1700). On the other hand, we find even in 15th c. a (northern) spelling kee; and in Scottish MSS. of the same cent. the form key (pl. keis) shows that the vowel in that dialect was not the same as in day or clay; in somewhat later Scottish (16th–17th c.) the identity of the vowel with that which gives mod. (ī) is established by rhymes. In mod. Southern Sc. also, key has the same diphthong (kei) as be, me, we, dee, see, tree, etc., proving that it must from an early period have had the same sound as ē, ee had at the time. The vb. weigh has the same history in Sc. (wī), but in Eng. remains (wēⁱ). The mod. pronunciation (kī) thus appears to be of northern origin, and it is difficult to know how it came into general Eng. use Cf. the surname Kaye or Key (Caius) in Caius (i.e., Key’s) College, Cambridge.]

  I.  1. An instrument, usually of iron, for moving the bolt or bolts of a lock forwards or backwards, and so locking or unlocking what is fastened by it; usually fitted on the bit or web with more or less elaborate incisions, etc., adapted to the wards of the lock.

a. 1000.  Riddles, xliii. 12 (Gr.). Hwylc þæs hordgates cæʓan cræfte þa clamme onleac.

1018.  Laws of Cnut, II. c. 76 § 1. Þæra cæʓean heo sceal weardian.

c. 1290.  S. Eng. Leg., I. 200/14. Þe prior haueth þe keiȝe in warde.

a. 1300.  Cursor M., 17357. Þai sperd fast wit lok and kai [v.rr. kay, key] Þe seles alssua þai bar away.

c. 1320.  Sir Beues (MS. A), 3207. A … schette þe dore wiþ þe keie [rhyme veie (= fey)].

c. 1375.  Sc. Leg. Saints, xlvii. (Effame), 73. Þo he had þe keys brocht Vith hyme, duris opyn he [ne] mocht.

1463.  Bury Wills (Camden), 22. A keye of the grete gardeyn gate.

1491–2.  in Swayne, Sarum Churchw. Acc. (1896), 40. j key to the Organ dore & iij keyis to the quer dorys vijd.

1535.  Coverdale, Judg. iii. 25. (For no man opened the perler dore) they toke the keye, and opened it.

1552.  Huloet, Kaye, clauis.

1596.  Spenser, F. Q., IV. x. 18. Either through gifts, or guile, or such like waies, Crept in by stouping low, or stealing of the kaies.

1632.  Lithgow, Trav., IV. 137. The doore, that he had newly locked, and taken the key with him to the ship.

1700.  Dryden, Sigism. & Guisc., 133. The dame, who long in vain had kept the key, Bold by desire, explored the secret way. Ibid., 156, 294.

1772.  Junius Lett., lxviii. 354. A key was found in his room.

1820.  Keats, St. Agnes, xli. The key turns, and the door upon its hinges groans.

1877.  J. M. Porteous, Turkey, 20. A key was an emblem carried before the troops of the prophet.

  b.  Phrases and proverbs: † Under key, under lock and key (see LOCK²). As cold as a key (cf. KEY-COLD a.). To lay (or put) the key under the door, to shut up house and go away. To get (have) the key of the street (ironical), to be shut out for the night, or have no house to go to. Key and book (or bible), used in a method of divination. The King’s keys (see quot. 1824).

13[?].  Evang. Nicod., 831, in Herrig, Archiv, LIII. 406. Yhe keped him vnder kay [rhymes day, way, may].

1390.  Gower, Conf., II. 188. The Priest Thoas, which … the Palladion of Troie Kepte under keie.

1501.  Douglas, Pal. Hon., 674. With quaikand voce and hart cald as a key [rhymes fey, pley, etc.].

a. 1541.  Wyatt, Poet. Wks. (1861), 121. What ’vaileth under kay To keep treasure alway, That never shall see day.

a. 1600.  Montgomerie, Sonn., xli. My lyfe … from my body fled, And left my corps als cold as ony kie [rhymes thee, ee, thrie].

1677.  Yarranton, Eng. Improv., 126. The Tenant lays the Key under the Door.

1824.  Scott, Redgauntlet, ch. xix. Constables … considered as worthy to use what are called the king’s keys. [Cf. Antiq., xxi. note, The king’s keys are, in law phrase, the crow-bars and hammers used to force doors and locks, in execution of the king’s warrant.]

1837.  Dickens, Pickw., xlvii. Its too late now: you can’t get in to-night; you’ve got the key of the street, my friend.

1894.  Gilbert Parker, Transl. Savage, ix. 161. A crossing-sweeper early to his task, or holding the key of the street, went pottering by.

  c.  The representation of a key, in painting, sculpture, etc. St. Peter’s keys, the cross keys borne in the Papal arms (see 4). Greek key, each of the key-like bends of which the Greek fret consists.

c. 1450.  Holland, Howlat, 345. Twa keyis our croce, of siluer so cleir, In a feild of asure flammit on fold.

15[?].  Sym & his Bruder, 25, in Laing, Anc. Poet. Scot., 315. Thay … clampit vp sanct Peteris keiss [rhymes leiss, weis, sleuis] Bot of ane auld reid gartane.

1688.  R. Holme, Armoury, III. 301/2. He beareth Azure, a key double Bited in Fesse.

1897.  Westm. Gaz., 2 Sept., 3/2. lts trimmings … running in vertical lines that end in Greek keys.

  2.  In pregnant sense, with reference to the power of custody, control, admission of others, etc., implied by the possession of the keys of any place; hence as a symbol of office, and fig. the office itself. Gold key, the office of groom of the stole.

a. 900.  [see 4].

1297.  R. Glouc. (Rolls), 3848. Þe conseil of france … ȝolde him vp al þat lond & þe keyen [v.rr. keyȝen, keyes] of parys.

c. 1385.  Chaucer, L. G. W., 2298 (Philomela). Myn yonge doughter … That beryth the keye of al myn hertis lyf.

a. 1400–50.  Alexander, 2147. Þai vnȝarked him þe ȝatis & ȝald him þe keys [MS. D. kees].

1546.  J. Heywood, Prov. (1867), 30. The kays hang not all by one mans gyrdell.

a. 1548.  Hall, Chron., Hen. VI., 162. All the townes in Acquitayne (except Bayon) delivered their keys, and became vassals.

1642.  G. Mountagu, in Buccleuch MSS. (Hist. MSS. Comm.), I. 299. These Lords, Holland and Essex,… accordingly delivered their key and staff respectively to the Lord Falkland.

1676.  C. Hatton, in H. Corr. (Camden), 138. His office of Chamberlaine is here incompatible w^th his other character. It is generally beleeved he will lose his Key.

1761.  Dk. Newcastle, Lett. Dk. Devonsh., 13 March, in W. E. Manners, Mrq. Granby (1899), 196. Lord Bute told me the King wished to give the Gold Key to the Duke of Rutland and the Staff to my Lord Talbot.

1795.  Southey, Joan of Arc, VI. 168. Of every captured town the keys Restore to Charles.

  II.  fig. (often in figurative context).

  3.  Something compared to a key, with its power of locking or unlocking; that which opens up, or closes, the way to something; that which gives opportunity for or precludes an action, state of things, etc.

a. 1000.  Cædmon’s Exod., 524. ʓif onlucan wile lifes wealhstod … gastes cæʓon, run bið ʓerecenod.

c. 1200.  Vices & Virtues, 7. Hie is kæie of alle oðre sennes non senne ne mai bien idon bute ðurh unhersumnesse.

c. 1450.  in 3rd Rep. Hist. MSS. Comm. (1872), 280/1. And as for Maunce and Mayne, alle lordes and comons in Englond knew well that it was the keye of well faire of alle the kynge’s obeisaunce in Fraunce.

1596.  Drayton, Leg., i. 740. His victorious Hand became the Kay, To let yee in, to my rich Treasure.

1642.  Fuller, Holy & Prof. St., IV. xxi. 352. Love, the key of hearts, will open the closest coffers.

a. 1703.  Burkitt, On N. T., Matt. vii. 11. Prayer is the key that opens both His heart and His hand.

1845.  Ford, Handbk. Spain, I. 58. A supply of cigars, those keys to Spanish hearts.

  b.  Golden or silver key: Money, employed as a bribe to obtain the opening of a door or to gain a purpose.

[14[?].  Purif. Marie, in Tundale’s Vis. (1843), 130. Thowgh that sche bare of gold no key To bye a lombe.]

1679.  Hist. Jetzer, 2. The Silver Key will open the strongest Gates of the strictest Monastery.

1705.  Hickeringill, Priest-cr., I. (1721), 63. Will Council open their Mouths without a Golden Key?

1798.  W. Hutton, Autobiog., 41. I was given to understand that the door, contrary to other doors, would not open with a silver key.

1842.  Tennyson, Locksley Hall, 100. Every door is barr’d with gold, and opens but to golden keys.

  † c.  A name for the principal claws of a hawk’s foot (see quot.) Obs.

1486.  Bk. St. Albans, A viij. Understond ye also that the longe Senclees be calde the key of the fote, or the Closer. For what thyng som euer it be y^t yowre hawke strenyth, open that Sengle, and all the fote is oppen, for the strength ther of fortyfieth all the fote.

  4.  Theol. (With allusion to Matt. xvi. 19). Usually pl: The ecclesiastical authority, held by Roman Catholics to be conferred by Christ on St. Peter, and transmitted to the Popes as his successors. In a wider sense: The disciplinary or spiritual power of priests, as successors of the Apostles.

a. 900.  O. E. Martyrol., 210. Þæt he [se papa] heofna rices cæʓan & helle ʓeweald ahte.

[c. 1000.  Ags. Gosp., Matt. xvi. 19. Þe ic sylle heofona rices cæʓia [Lindisf. cæʓas, Rushw. kæʓen; Hatton kaiʓen.].

a. 1300.  Cursor M., 26150. He mai þe noþer lese ne bind, forqui þat kay es giuen to nan bot preist.

c. 1340.  Richard Rolle of Hampole, Prick of Conscience, 3838. Þa cays er noght elles to se Bot playn power of his [the Pope’s] dignite.

1426.  Audelay, Poems, 20. Cal the clarge to ȝour counsel, that beryn Cristis kay.

1552.  Lyndesay, Monarche, 4820. Those spiritual keis quhilkis Christ to Peter gaif.

1560.  Daus, trans. Sleidane’s Comm., 437. Whether Priestes onlye have authoritye of the Keyes.

1653.  Baxter, Chr. Concord, 43. They that distinguish between the Key of Order and the Key of Jurisdiction, do without question allow the former to the Presbyters.

1681.  Procl. Privy Counc., in Lond. Gaz., No. 1670/1. The Intrinsick Spiritual Power of the Church, or Power of the Keys, as it was exerced by the Apostles.

a. 1711.  Ken, Hymnotheo, Poet. Wks. 1721, III. 131. Jesus to you the ghostly Keys commits, And those you here absolve, in Heav’n acquits.

1849.  Macaulay, Hist. Eng., I. iv. 466. Lewis … was in turn accused by the Pope of encroaching on the spiritual power of the keys.

  5.  A place which from the strategic advantages of its position gives its possessor control over the passage into or from a certain district, territory, inland sea, etc.

c. 1440.  Capgrave, Life St. Kath., I. 71. Therfor þis kyng ryght as for a keye Of all hys kyngdame set hys town þer.

a. 1548.  Hall, Chron., Hen. VI., 153. Which towne was the kay and passage over the ryver of Soame, from Fraunce to Normandy.

a. 1600.  Montgomerie, Misc. Poems, xlviii. 115. For these tua Castells ar the only kees Of all Turkie, and do divide the sees.

1684.  Lond. Gaz., No. 1954/3. A very Important place, which is the Key of Sclavonia.

1735.  Berkeley, Querist, § 266. Whether the sea-ports of Galway, Limerick, Cork, and Waterford are not to be looked on as keys of this kingdom?

1838.  Thirlwall, Greece, II. xv. 291. He had now the key of Northern Greece in his hands.

1838.  Penny Cycl., XI. 214/2. (Gibraltar) Henry IV. king of Castile … gave it the arms it still bears, viz. a castle with a key hanging to the gate, alluding to its being the key to the Mediterranean.

  transf.  1869.  Huxley, in Sci. Opin., 5 May, 506/1. And yet this is the key of the whole position.

  6.  That which serves to open up, disclose or explain what is unknown, mysterious or obscure; a solution or explanation.

c. 897.  K. Ælfred, Gregory’s Past., xv. 90. Ðæt word ðære ðreaunge is cæʓ, forðæm hit oft onlycð & ʓeopenað ða scylde þe se him self ær nyste se hie ðurhteah.

c. 1000.  Ælfric, Gram., Pref. (Z.), 2. Stæfcræft is seo cæʓ ðe ðæra boca andʓit unlicð.

1382.  Wyclif, Luke xi. 52. Woo to ȝou, wyse men of lawe, for ȝe han take awey the keye of kunnynge.

c. 1422.  Hoccleve, Learn to Die, 12. Thow of al science berst the keye.

1597.  Montgomerie, Cherrie & Slae, 411. Euer Curage keipis the keyis Of knawledge at his belt.

1642.  Fuller, Holy & Prof. St., III. iv. 158. Get the Language (in part) without which Key thou shalt unlock little of moment.

1712.  Addison, Spect., No. 435, ¶ 6. I have one general Key to the Behaviour of the Fair Sex.

1788.  Mad. D’Arblay, Diary, 21 July. I felt his meaning, though I had no key to it.

1883.  S. C. Hall, Retrospect, II. 305. It was the key to his success; he knew the value of time.

  b.  spec. The alphabet or explanatory scheme for the interpretation of a cipher, an allegorical statement, or other composition of hidden or veiled meaning; any scheme explaining the features of a picture, identifying the persons represented, etc.; an outline or simplified map or chart, intended to make a full map, etc., more intelligible; a work containing solutions of mathematical or other problems; a translation of a book or exercise in a foreign language, to facilitate the work of learners.

1605.  Implied in key-cipher [see 16].

1675.  Essex Papers (Camden), I. 290. ’Tis most of it in cypher, w^ch y^e Key will unfolde.

1711.  Addison, Spect., No. 37, ¶ 2. The New Atalantis, with a Key to it.

1753.  Scots Mag., XV. April, 208/2. A burlesque upon some late … transactions; but seems to want a key.

1800.  Dk. Wellington, Lett. to Lieut. Col. Close, in Gurw., Desp. (1837), I. 151. I beg also that you will send me a key of the cipher.

1826.  Syd. Smith, Wks. (1867), II. 102. Some of the best Greek and Roman classics should be immediately published, with keys.

1827.  Hare, Guesses, Ser. II. (1873), 296. Poetry is the key to the hieroglyphics of nature.

1870.  ‘A. R. Hope,’ My Schoolboy Fr. (1875), 52. Where the master used a key to Henry’s Exercises.

  7.  Mus. † a. (after Guido Aretino’s use of clāvis.] The lowest note or tone of a scale or sequence of notes; the key-note. Obs. Hence, b. A scheme or system of notes or tones definitely related to each other, according to (or in) which a piece of music is written; such scheme being based upon and named after some particular note (the key-note), as the key of C. Hence, c. The sum of melodic and harmonic relations existing between the tones of such a system; tonality.

  MAJOR, MINOR, NATURAL (etc.) key: see these words.

  [There is app. some relationship between this sense and 11, but its precise nature is not clear; its origin prob. lies outside Eng., in the use, in mediæval music, of L. clāvis (whence, also, through Fr., CLEF, q.v.).

1880.  A. J. Hipkins, in Grove, Dict. Mus., I. 369. The word clavis, key, in the solmisation system of Guido d’Arezzo, was used for note or tone.]

1590.  Shaks., Mids. N., III. ii. 206. Both warbling of one song; both in one key.

1597.  Morley, Introd. Mus., 4. Now I praie you shew me all the seuerall Keyes wherein you may begin your sixe Notes [i.e., hexachords].

1609.  Douland, Ornith. Microl., 7. A Key is the opening of a Song, because like as a Key opens a dore, so doth it the Song.

1674.  Playford, Skill Mus., I. xi. 57. To shew in what Key the Song was set, and how each Musical Key had relation one to another.

1694.  W. Holder, Harmony (1731), 119. Draw a second Scale … but let the Key, or First Note be D Sol re.

1731.  Keller, Rules for Thorow-Bass, in Holder, Harmony, 192. The extream Sharp in a sharp [i.e., major] Key, is the half Note [i.e., semitone] below the Key.

1787.  Wolcott (P. Pindar), Ode upon Ode, Wks. 1812, I. 421. To hear her pompously demand the Key Of every piece Musicians play.

1826.  B’ness Bunsen, in Hare, Life, I. vii. 268. I have often practised writing out parts in the different keys.

1898.  Stainer, Dict. Mus. Terms, 253/2. The key of C requires no flats or sharps for this purpose, hence it is called the normal key.

  8.  transf. and fig. a. transf. (High or low) tone (of the voice); pitch.

1599.  B. Jonson, Cynthia’s Rev., IV. i. Wks. (Rtldg.), 84/1. There’s one speaks in a key, like the opening of some Justice’s gate, or a postboy’s horn.

1623.  Massinger, Dk. Milan, II. i. Plays (1868), 74/1. I’ll speak to her, And in a high key too.

1709.  Berkeley, Th. Vision, § 46. Men speak in a high or a low key.

1748.  J. Mason, Elocut., 10. Carefully to preserve the Key (that is, the Command) of your Voice.

1877.  Black, Green Past., xxxv. (1878), 282. Loudly discoursing—in a high shrill and plaintive key—of his troubles.

  b.  fig. Intensity or force, ‘pitch’ (of feeling or action); tone or style (of thought or expression); sometimes, prevailing tone or idea, ‘key-note.’

1594.  Nashe, Unfort. Trav., 36. As for my cariage, he knew hee was to tuene it at a key, either high or low, as he list.

1599.  Daniel, Musoph., Wks. (1601), B v. His passions set to such a pleasing kay.

1621.  Quarles, Div. Poems, Esther (1717), 131. Let peace and love exalt your Key of mirth.

1646.  Evance, Noble Ord., 16. Which is the right Key of obedience.

1770.  Langhorne, Plutarch (1879), II. 904/2. The key of politics, which he first touched, he kept to without variation.

1816.  Keatinge, Trav. (1817), I. 234. He returned in a high key of spirits in consequence of the reception he was favoured with.

1875.  Stubbs, Const. Hist., I. xiv. 129. The writs to the barons … are shorter but in the same key.

  c.  Tone or relative intensity (of color).

1851.  H. Wilson, Compos. Light & Shade, 65. Pictures, painted in a ‘light key,’ possess many advantages.

1876.  Ruskin, Arrows of Chace (1880), I. 174. Their harmonies of amber-colour and purple are full of exquisite beauty in their chosen key.

  III.  Applied to various mechanical devices, in function or form suggesting the key of a lock.

  9.  A piece of wood or metal that is inserted between other pieces; usually, a pin, bolt or wedge fitting into a hole or space contrived for it so as to lock various parts together; a cotter.

  Also, in special senses: (a) A piece of timber framed between floor-joists by mortice and tenon. (b) A piece of wood let into the back of a board or set of boards, across the grain, to prevent warping. (c) In stone-work: the piece or wedge of iron used to secure a dovetail in a hole, or driven between two ‘feathers’ to split a stone (see quots. 1793). (d) In book-binding: a metal U-shaped instrument by which each band is secured in the sewing-press.

[1408–19.  Acc. Roll, in Raine, Brief Acc. Durh. Cath. (1833), 88. 4d. each for 280 ‘keys,’ or bosses for the crossings of the beams.]

c. 1440.  Promp. Parv., 269/2. Key, or knyttynge of ij. wallys, or trees yn an vnstabylle grownde,… loramentum.

1497.  Naval Acc. Hen. VII. (1896), 84. Boltes forlokkes kayes lynces and a taile pynne for the said Curtowe.

1523.  Fitzherb., Husb., § 5. The bodye of the wayne … the crosse somer, the keys and pikstaues.

1603–4.  in Swayne, Sarum Churchw. Acc. (1896), 152. Boltes and kayes for the belles.

1660.  Boyle, New Exp. Phys.-Mech., ii. 37. The brass Key (formerly described as a stopple in the brass Cover).

1730.  A. Gordon, Maffei’s Amphith., 213. The Stones … are pieced together … with Keys of Iron or Stones left projecting out in what was already built, the better to join them. Ibid., 215. Keys or Cramps of Metal.

1787.  Winter, Syst. Husb., 312. Take out the pins or keys which fasten the iron work of the brass collars.

1793.  Smeaton, Edystone L., § 51. The iron stanchions … were not fixed into the rock in the method of Key and Dovetail … but were fixed in with club ends. Ibid., § 147. A method sometimes used … for the division of hard stones, called the Key and Feather … The Key is a long tapering wedge … The Feathers are pieces of iron, also of a wedge-like shape.

1838.  F. W. Simms, Pub. Wks. Gt. Brit., 15. Two wrought iron keys for fixing the rail in the chair.

1857–62.  Nicholson, Dict. Archit., II. 86. When a key is passed through … two or more thicknesses of metal or other material … it is customary to clasp them together by gibbs, previous to inserting the key.

1892.  D. A. Low, Machine Draw., 22. Keys are wedges, generally rectangular in section, but sometimes circular; they are made of wrought iron or steel, and are used for securing wheels, pulleys, cranks, &c., to shafts.

  ¶ In the following passages L. clāvus tiller, rudder, is confused with clāvis key.

c. 1374.  Chaucer, Boeth., III. pr. xii. 81 (Camb. MS.). He is as a keye [L. clauus] and a stiere by which þat the edifice of this world is I-kept stable.

1423.  James I., Kingis Q., c. O anker and keye of oure gude auenture.

  10.  That which completes or holds together the parts of any fabric; esp. the key-stone of an arch, which by its position and wedged form locks the other stones and holds together the structure.

  Also (a) the last board laid in a floor (Nicholson, Dict. Archit., 1857–62); (b) the bent bar of iron which in well-boring supports the train of rods (Knight, Dict. Mech., 1875).

1523.  Fitzherb., Husb., § 3. The sharebeame, the whiche is the keye and the chiefe bande of all the plough.

1624.  Wotton, Archit., in Reliq. (1651), 290. If the great Doore be Arched with some brave Head, cut in fine Stone or Marble for the Key of the Arch.

1703.  Moxon, Mech. Exerc., 273. The under side of the Arch at the Key to rise in height 18 Inches from the level of the place, whence you begin to spring the Arch.

1723.  Chambers, trans. Le Clerc’s Treat. Archit., I. 52. Keys … ought to be … a real support, and not stand for mere Ornaments as they frequently do.

1892.  Daily News, 22 Nov., 3/2. The hole will be lined all the way round with an iron plate two inches thick. This will be laid all round in 14 segments, and a ‘key’ at the top.

  † b.  fig. The leading person or mainstay of a society, etc.; one of the best dogs in a pack; a cardinal point or principle. Obs.

1559.  Mirr. Mag., Dk. Clarence, xviii. Where decayed the kayes of chiualrie.

1578.  T. N., trans. Conq. W. India, 319. The key of al these warres consisted in this victory.

c. 1620.  A. Hume, Brit. Tongue, vii. 18. That general, quhilk I called the keie of orthographie … that is the congruence of the symbol and sound symbolized.

1652.  Culpepper, Eng. Physic. (1809), 336. The one must keep his credit, and the other get money, and that is the key of the work.

1693.  Evelyn, De la Quint. Compl. Gard., I. 103. Which … are among our Fruits that which those called the Keys in a Pack of Hounds are in Hunting.

  c.  That portion of a first coat of wall-plaster which passes between the laths and secures the rest; the hold that plaster has on a wall by means of roughnesses in the surface; the roughness of a wall-surface that enables plaster to adhere to it; the roughing on the under-side of a veneer, giving the glue a better hold.

1825.  J. Nicholson, Operat. Mechanic, 612. The plaster is crossed all over with the end of a lath, to give it a tie or key to the coat which is afterwards to be laid upon it.

1842–76.  Gwilt, Archit. (ed. 7), § 1899. A better key is obtained upon the bricks and mortar.

1888.  C. F. Mitchell, Building Constr., I. vii. (1889), 104. Tredgold recommends the arrises of wide timbers to be taken off, so as not to interrupt the key for plaster.

  11.  In the organ, pianoforte, and other (‘keyboard’) instruments: Each of the levers, or more usually only the exposed front end of each of these, which are pressed down by the fingers in playing, and actuate the internal mechanism so as to produce the various notes.

  [This sense appears to be confined to Eng. It is app. related in origin to 7: see the note there.]

c. 1500.  Prov., in Antiq. Rep. (1809), IV. 407. He must handill the keyes all lyke.

1513.  in Kerry, Hist. St. Lawrence, Reading (1883), 60. Payd for y^e lokks to the same organs, one for the stopps and the oþer for the keyes.

1626.  Bacon, Sylva, § 158. In Clericalls, the Keyes are lined.

1632.  Quarles, Div. Fancies, 1.

1664.  Pepys, Diary, 5 Oct. The new instrument … the Arched Viall … played on with kees like an organ.

1785.  Mad. D’Arblay, Diary, 16 Dec. ‘Are you sure you never play?—never touch the keys at all?’

1876.  F. E. Trollope, Charming Fellow, II. i. 4. Castalia … began to run her fingers over the keys of the piano.

1896.  Hipkins, Pianoforte, 28. The lower keys are called the naturals and, where seen, are covered with ivory; the visible ends of the shorter upper keys, called sharps, are raised to the height required by blocks of ebony glued upon them.

  b.  In some wind instruments, as the flute, oboe, clarinet, concertina, etc.: Each of the small metal levers, actuated by the fingers, which cover or uncover the holes so as to modify the length of the vibrating column of air and thus produce the various notes.

1765.  Croker, etc. Dict. Arts, etc. s.v. Flute, Stopped and opened by the little finger’s pressing on a brass, or sometimes, a silver key, like those in hautboys, bassoons, &c.

1829.  Specif. Patent 5803. Finger keys have also been added to such instruments [as the concertina].

1851.  Illustr. Catal. Gt. Exhib., 1105. D flute of ebony, with keys … Clarionets in B and D, in German silver, with all the keys.

  † c.  Each of the vibrating steel tongues of a musical box. Obs.

1823.  J. Badcock, Dom. Amusem., 67. Long bits of steel called the keys of the instrument.

  12.  Hence a. In telegraphy, A mechanical device for breaking and closing an electric circuit. b. In a type-writer or similar instrument, each of a set of levers pressed by the fingers in the same manner as the keys of a pianoforte or organ.

1837.  Specif. Patent, No. 7390. 4. Giving signals … by … pressure of his … fingers upon suitable buttons or finger keys.

1846.  Penny Cycl., 1st Suppl. II. 616/1. In M. Alexander’s instrument, a set of keys resembling those of a pianoforte, and corresponding to the number of needles, were arranged on a frame or table.

1867.  Sabine, Electric Telegraph, 41. The transmitting key used by Morse in his later apparatus … consisted of a lever.

1876.  Preece & Sivewright, Telegraphy, 58. To send dots and dashes by this key it is only necessary to tap or move it as one would the key of a piano.

  13.  An instrument for grasping a square or polygonal-headed screw, peg, or nut, and turning it by lever action; esp. (a) for winding a clock, watch, or clock-work machine; (b) for turning the wrest-pins of stringed instruments; a tuning-hammer; (c) for turning a valve or stop-cock; (d) for turning a nut; a screw-wrench or spanner.

  In The reference in quot. 1610 is somewhat uncertain. In quot. 1659 applied to the plug of a cock or tap.

1610.  Shaks., Temp., I. ii. 83. Thy false vncle … hauing both the key, Of Officer, and office, set all hearts i’th state To what tune pleas’d his eare.

1659.  Leak, Water-works, 14. The Cock D; whose barrel is pierced … to the end that the key C turning either one way or the other,… the Water … may run when the hole of the key C shall agree with one or the other of them.

1729.  Swift, Direct. Servants, Wks. (1879), 559/2. Hide the key of the jack.

1755.  Johnson, Dict., Key … 3. An instrument by which something is screwed or turned.

1783.  Phil. Trans., LXXIII. 443. Those stop-cocks must be turned by means of a key adapted to their square tops.

1828.  Webster, s.v., The key of a watch or other chronometer.

1851.  Illustr. Catal. Gt. Exhib., 1147. Ordinary tuning-keys are generally formed in one piece of hard iron.

1884.  F. J. Britten, Watch & Clockm., 131. Capable of being wound without a key.

  b.  An instrument for extracting teeth, consisting of a firm handle, with a claw, beak or hook at right angles to it, and moving upon a pivot.

1854–67.  C. A. Harris, Dict. Med. Terminol., 377/2. Since the time of Garengeot, the key has undergone a number of improvements … almost every dentist has felt the necessity of modifying the instrument.

1856.  Druitt, Surgeon’s Vade M., 450. The key is … often employed for the extraction of the bicuspides and molars.

  IV.  14. A dry fruit with a thin membranous wing, usually growing in bunches, as in the ash and sycamore.

1523.  Fitzherb., Surv., xxix. (1539), 51. Ye may gette the Keys of asshes, nuttes, and suche other.

1562.  Turner, Herbal, II. 6. They are called in Englishe ashe Keyes, because they hangh in bunches after the maner of Keyes.

1664.  Evelyn, Sylva (1679), 4. Oaklings, young beeches, ash, and some others, spring from the self-sown mast and keys.

1789.  G. White, Selborne (1853), 387. Many ash-trees bear loads of keys every year.

1880.  Gray, Struct. Bot. (ed. 6), 294. The Samara, sometimes called in English a Key, is an indehiscent one-seeded fruit provided with a wing.

  15.  Key of the sea, the Pelican’s foot shell.

1854.  Zoologist, XII. 4425. Aporrhais pes-pelecani … This common shell is popularly known as the ‘key of the sea.’

  V.  attrib. and Comb.

  16.  General combs., as (sense 1), key-basket, -maker, -rack; key-headed, adj.; (sense 6) key-book, -cipher, -list, -map, -sentence, -word; (sense 7) key-relationship, -signature; (senses 9 and 10) key-beam, -course, -log, -piece, -pile.

1889.  Mrs. Burton Harrison, in Century Mag., XXXVII. April, 841/1. A mob-cap covering her grey hair, and *key-basket in hand.

1865.  R. Hunt, Pop. Rom. West Eng. (1896), 112 (E. D. D.). They were playing all sorts of pranks on the *key-beams and rafters.

1826.  E. Irving, Babylon, I. I. 54. These two *key-books [Daniel and Revelations] and the treasure-books, which they unlock.

1605.  Bacon, Adv. Learn., II. xvi. § 6. The kinds of Ciphers … are many, according to the nature or rule of the infolding; Wheel-ciphers, *Key-ciphers, Doubles, &c.

1703.  Moxon, Mech. Exerc., 282. The middle of the *Key-course will be the middle of the Arch.

1859.  C. Forster, Primev. Lang., Mon. Assyria, 13. Clavi-formed, or nail-headed, cludi-formed, or *key-headed, cuneiform, or wedge-shaped.

1860.  C. Hallock, in Harper’s Mag., XX. March, 452/1. The most vulnerable point—the *‘key log’ of the jam—is sought.

1483.  Cath. Angl., 200/1. A *kay maker, clauicularius, clauicularia.

1851.  in Illustr. Lond. News (1854), 5 Aug., 119. Key-maker.

1872.  Proctor, Ess. Astron., xxviii. 346. This chart … with photo-lithographed *keymaps.

1895.  Bookman, Oct., 26/2. Single page plans of small districts on a fair scale with a key-map for reference.

1891.  Pall Mall Gaz., 7 Nov., 2/1. Fourteen segments and a *keypiece will make up a ring 2¹/₂ ft. wide.

1882.  Stevenson, New Arab. Nts. (1884), 297. The landlord … rose from a business table under the *key-rack.

1881.  Broadhouse, Mus. Acoustics, 371. So many stumbling-blocks, in the way of understanding *key-relationship.

1859.  C. Forster, Primev. Lang., Mon. Assyria, 207. The inscriptions terminated with their *key-sentence.

1875.  Stainer & Barrett, Dict. Mus. Terms (1898), 404/2. The *key signatures, including the clefs, are usually written on every stave.

1879.  Stainer, Music of Bible, 164. The different versions begin and end in the same *key-tonality.

1859.  C. Forster, Primev. Lang., Mon. Assyria, 40. The *key-word of these inscriptions.

1885.  Merriam, Sam. Bowles, II. xxxiv. 66. The key-word of life is ‘Thy will be done.’

  17.  Special combs.: key-action, the mechanism by which sounds are produced in musical instruments that have a keyboard; † key-band Mech., a pin or wedge used in tightening machinery; key-bed Mech., the part of a shaft on or in which a key rests (see quot.); key-bit = BIT sb.¹ 7; key-bolt Mech., a bolt that is secured in its place by a key or cotter (Hamersly, Naval Encycl., 1881); key-bone, (a) the collar-bone, clavicle (nonce-use); (b) a bone forming the key of a structure; key-check (see quot.); key-chord Mus., the common chord of the key-note; † key-clock, ? a pine cone (cf. CLOCK sb.¹ 9); key-colo(u)r, the leading color in a picture; key-desk Mus., the case enclosing the keys and stops of an organ; key-dovetailing, a method of joining two pieces of wood, etc., by means of a key dovetailed into each; key-drop, an external keyhole-guard, which falls by its own weight; key-fastener, any device to prevent a key from being turned in a lock (Knight, Dict. Mech., 1875); a wedge securing the breech-block of a gun (Cent. Dict.); key-file, a flat file, of the same thickness throughout, used in filing the wards of keys; key-frame = KEYBOARD 2; key-fruit = KEY 14; key-groove Mech. = key-seat: hence key-grooving machine; † key-gun, = key-pistol; key-hammer, a hammer for driving in keys or wedges; † key-herd Obs. = KEY-KEEPER; key-loader, a workman who balances the wooden keys of a musical instrument by the insertion of lead pellets; † key-locks, lock and key; key-money, a payment required from the tenant of a house before he is allowed to have the key; key-movement, the mechanism of the keys of an organ; key pattern, a fret or meander; key-pin, the pin on which a pianoforte or organ key is centered; key-pipe, in a lock, the tubular opening in which the shank of the key turns; † key-pistol, a small pistol disguised in the form of a key; key-point = KEY 5 (also fig.); key-ring (a) a finger-ring having a small key combined with it; (b) a ring on which a number of keys are hung; key-screw = KEY 13; key-seat Mech., a key-bed or key-way (see quot. for key-bed); hence key-seated a.; † key-shot, shot consisting of a bunch of pieces of metal; key-stop, a key fitted to a violin to assist in stopping the strings (Cent. Dict.); key-stringed a., having strings that are sounded by means of keys; key-tail, the part of a piano or organ key that lies behind the key-pin; key-trumpet, a trumpet fitted with keys; key-way Mech., a groove cut in a shaft, or in the boss of a wheel, to receive a key (see quot. for key-bed); key-winding a., of a watch, that is wound up with a key.

1881.  Edwards, Organs, vi. (Heading) 67. *Key Action.

1734.  Phil. Trans., XXXVIII. No. 434. Engraving, The Screw or *Key-band to confine all close and tight.

1892.  D. A. Low, Machine Draw., 22. The part of the shaft upon which a key rests is called the *key bed or key way, and the recess in the boss of the wheel or pulley into which the key fits is called the key way; both are also called key seats.

1875.  Ure’s Dict. Arts, III. 142. By turning the handle, the *key-bit … is brought into contact with the works of the lock, so as to shoot and withdraw the bolt.

1791.  Cowper, Iliad, V. 171. One with his huge falchion smote Fast by the *key-bone.

1854.  Owen, Skel. & Teeth, in Circ. Sc., Organ. Nat., I. 206. It … completes the neural arch, as its crown or key-bone.

1875.  Stainer & Barrett, Dict. Mus. Terms (1898), 341. The pieces of wood on each side of the manual, to which the pin-rails are firmly fixed, are called *key-checks. Ibid., 254. C, E, G is the *key-chord of C.

1577.  B. Googe, Heresbach’s Husb. (1586), 95. The Pine … is planted not muche unlike to the Almond, the Kernels of the *Keie clockes being set as the Almond is.

1899.  Westm. Gaz., 21 Jan., 4/2. The console or *key-desk is movable.

1847.  Smeaton, Builder’s Man., 90. The first method … is called, amongst workmen, keying together; the second … *key-dovetailing.

1857.  Cassell’s Illustr. Exhibitor, 52. [Foucault’s] Printing *key frame by which the blind may write.

1835.  Ure, Philos. Manuf., 21. The dexterous hands of the filer and driller are now superseded by the planing, the *key-groove cutting, and the drilling machines.

1663.  Davenant, Siege Rhodes, Wks. (1673), 65/2. I hope he wears no charms About him, *Key Guns or Pistols charg’d with White Powder.

1884.  Mil. Engineering, I. II. 59. The tools required are … 1 rammer, 1 *key-hammer, 2 beaters.

c. 725.  Corpus Gloss., 490. Clavicularius, *caeʓhiorde.

c. 1200.  Trin. Coll. Hom., 193. Ðe heuenliche keiherde sainte peter.

1886.  Standard, 10 May, 2/6. He had worked … as a *key-loader.

1018.  Laws of Cnut, II. c. 76 § 1. Buton hit under þæs wifes *cæʓ-locan ʓebroht wære, sy heo clæne.

a. 1687.  Cotton, Poet. Wks. (1765), 7. And here, in House, with her own Key-locks, She us’d to keep her Coach and Peacocks.

1898.  Daily News, 19 Dec., 6/7. The rent was higher than was stated on the rent book and the *key money exorbitant.

1881.  Edwards, Organs, vi. (Heading), 67. The Claviers and *Key Movement.

1853.  Humphreys, Coin Collector’s Man., iv. 28. The figure known in Greek ornament as the *‘key pattern.’

1887.  J. R. Allen, Early Chr. Symbol., 111. The cross … is enclosed in a rectangular frame of key-pattern.

1655.  Marq. Worcester, Cent. Inv., Index p. iv. A *Key-pistol [art. 44 … a key of a Chamber door, which … shall become a perfect pistol].

1870.  Lowell, Study Wind., 256. They have not learned the art of concentrating their force on the *key-point of their hearers’ interest.

1874.  Raymond, Statist. Mines & Mining, 509. Upon the upper end of the sleeve … a *key-seat of from four to six feet in length is cut…; over this sleeve a pinion … also key-seated, is slipped.

1652.  Sea-Fight betw. Eng. & Dutch (30 Nov.), 4. So close and thick did they ply the enemy with *Key-shot, long Chains, and Bolts of Iron.

1875.  Stainer & Barrett, Dict. Mus. Terms (1898), 253. The striking apparatus of a *key-stringed instrument.

1870.  Eng. Mech., 18 March, 652/3. The driving shaft is cut with a feather groove or *key way.

1893.  Pall Mall Gaz., 2 Jan., 5/2. He drilled three keyways out of solid steel in the collars and fitted steel bolts into them.

1884.  F. J. Britten, Watch & Clockm., 240. The square in *key-winding watches by means of which the hands are set to time.