Transcription
-
- US Pronunciation
- US IPA
- UK Pronunciation
- UK IPA
-
- [kee]
- /ki/
- /kiː/
-
- US Pronunciation
- US IPA
-
- [kee]
- /ki/
Definitions of key word
- noun plural key a small metal instrument specially cut to fit into a lock and move its bolt. 1
- noun plural key any of various devices resembling or functioning as a key: the key of a clock. 1
- noun plural key key card. 1
- noun plural key something that affords a means of access: the key to happiness. 1
- noun plural key something that secures or controls entrance to a place: Gibraltar is the key to the Mediterranean. 1
- noun plural key something that affords a means of clarifying a problem. 1
Information block about the term
Origin of key
First appearance:
before 900 One of the 4% oldest English words
before 900; Middle English key(e), kay(e), Old English cǣg, cǣge; cognate with Old Frisian kei, kai
Historical Comparancy
Parts of speech for Key
noun
adjective
verb
adverb
pronoun
preposition
conjunction
determiner
exclamation
key popularity
A common word. It’s meaning is known to most children of preschool age. About 99% of English native speakers know the meaning and use the word.
Most Europeans know this English word. The frequency of it’s usage is somewhere between "mom" and "screwdriver".
key usage trend in Literature
This diagram is provided by Google Ngram ViewerSynonyms for key
noun key
- screw — a metal fastener having a tapered shank with a helical thread, and topped with a slotted head, driven into wood or the like by rotating, especially by means of a screwdriver.
- skeleton — Anatomy, Zoology. the bones of a human or an animal considered as a whole, together forming the framework of the body.
- opener — a person or thing that opens.
- latchkey — a key for releasing a latch or springlock, especially on an outer door.
- passkey — master key.
adjective key
- important — of much or great significance or consequence: an important event in world history.
- main — chief in size, extent, or importance; principal; leading: the company's main office; the main features of a plan.
- crucial — If you describe something as crucial, you mean it is extremely important.
- significant — important; of consequence.
- vital — of or relating to life: vital processes.
verb key
- input — ALPHA
- enter — Come or go into (a place).
- keyboard — the row or set of keys on a piano, organ, or the like.
- key in — the row or set of keys on a piano, organ, or the like.
- type — a number of things or persons sharing a particular characteristic, or set of characteristics, that causes them to be regarded as a group, more or less precisely defined or designated; class; category: a criminal of the most vicious type.
Antonyms for key
noun key
- lock — a tress, curl, or ringlet of hair.
- question — a sentence in an interrogative form, addressed to someone in order to get information in reply.
- outside — the outer side, surface, or part; exterior: The outside of the house needs painting.
- exterior — Forming, situated on, or relating to the outside of something.
- exteriority — Surface; externality.
adjective key
- unimportant — of much or great significance or consequence: an important event in world history.
- additional — Additional things are extra things apart from the ones already present.
- auxiliary — An auxiliary is a person who is employed to assist other people in their work. Auxiliaries are often medical workers or members of the armed forces.
- extra — Added to an existing or usual amount or number.
- inessential — not essential; not necessary; nonessential.
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