What does key mean?

What does key mean?. The world's largest and most trusted free online dictionary: definitions, synonyms, word origins, example sentences, word games, and more.

What does key mean? - The Free Dictionary

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[n] metal device shaped in such a way that when it is inserted into the appropriate lock the lock's mechanism can be rotated[v] identify as in botany or biology, for example[a] serving as an essential component(a cardinal rule the central cause of the problem an example that was fundamenta

key

key - The Free Dictionary

[n] metal device shaped in such a way that when it is inserted into the appropriate lock the lock's mechanism can be rotated

[v] identify as in botany or biology, for example

[a] serving as an essential component
(a cardinal rule the central cause of the problem an example that was fundamental to the argument computers are fundamental to modern industrial structure)

[n] something crucial for explaining
(the key to development is economic integration)

[v] provide with a key
(We were keyed after the locks were changed in the building)

[n] pitch of the voice
(he spoke in a low key)

[v] vandalize a car by scratching the sides with a key
(His new Mercedes was keyed last night in the parking lot)

[n] any of 24 major or minor diatonic scales that provide the tonal framework for a piece of music

[v] regulate the musical pitch of

[n] a kilogram of a narcotic drug
(they were carrying two keys of heroin)

[v] harmonize with or adjust to
(key one's actions to the voters' prevailing attitude)

[n] a winged often one-seed indehiscent fruit as of the ash or elm or maple

[n] United States lawyer and poet who wrote a poem after witnessing the British attack on Baltimore during the War of 1812; the poem was later set to music and entitled `The Star-Spangled Banner' (1779-1843)

[n] a coral reef off the southern coast of Florida

[n] (basketball) a space (including the foul line) in front of the basket at each end of a basketball court; usually painted a different color from the rest of the court
(he hit a jump shot from the top of the key he dominates play in the paint)

[n] a list of answers to a test
(some students had stolen the key to the final exam)

[n] a list of words or phrases that explain symbols or abbreviations

[n] a generic term for any device whose possession entitles the holder to a means of access
(a safe-deposit box usually requires two keys to open it)

[n] mechanical device used to wind another device that is driven by a spring (as a clock)

[n] the central building block at the top of an arch or vault

[n] a lever (as in a keyboard) that actuates a mechanism when depressed

Other vocabulary

k, k particle, k ration, k'ung futzu, k-dur 20, k-lor, k-lyte, k-meson, k.e., k2, ka, kaaba, kabala, kabbala, kabbalah, kabbalism, kabbalist, kabbalistic, kabob, kabolin, kabul, kach, kachaturian, kachin, kachina, kachinic, kadai, kadai language, kadikoy, kaffir, e, e layer, e region, e'en, e'er, e-bomb, e-commerce, e-mail, e-mycin, e. a. von willebrand, e. b. white, e. coli, e. e. cummings, e. g. marshall, e. h. harriman, e. h. weber, e. l. doctorow, e. o. lawrence, e. o. wilson, e. t. a. hoffmann, e. t. s. walton, e. w. morley, e.g., e.s.p., ea, each, each week, each year, eacles, eacles imperialis

Dictionary

A dictionary is a listing of lexemes from the lexicon of one or more specific languages, often arranged alphabetically (or by consonantal root for Semitic languages or radical and stroke for ideographic languages), which may include information on definitions, usage, etymologies, pronunciations, translation, etc. It is a lexicographical reference that shows inter-relationships among the data.

A broad distinction is made between general and specialized dictionaries. Specialized dictionaries include words in specialist fields, rather than a complete range of words in the language. Lexical items that describe concepts in specific fields are usually called terms instead of words, although there is no consensus whether lexicology and terminology are two different fields of study. In theory, general dictionaries are supposed[citation needed] to be semasiological, mapping word to definition, while specialized dictionaries are supposed to be onomasiological, first identifying concepts and then establishing the terms used to designate them. In practice, the two approaches are used for both types. There are other types of dictionaries that do not fit neatly into the above distinction, for instance bilingual (translation) dictionaries, dictionaries of synonyms (thesauri), and rhyming dictionaries. The word dictionary (unqualified) is usually understood to refer to a general purpose monolingual dictionary.

There is also a contrast between prescriptive or descriptive dictionaries; the former reflect what is seen as correct use of the language while the latter reflect recorded actual use. Stylistic indications (e.g. "informal" or "vulgar") in many modern dictionaries are also considered by some to be less than objectively descriptive.

The first recorded dictionaries date back to Sumerian times around 2300 BCE, in the form of bilingual dictionaries, and the oldest surviving monolingual dictionaries are Chinese dictionaries c. 3rd century BCE. The first purely English alphabetical dictionary was A Table Alphabeticall, written in 1604, and monolingual dictionaries in other languages also began appearing in Europe at around this time. The systematic study of dictionaries as objects of scientific interest arose as a 20th-century enterprise, called lexicography, and largely initiated by Ladislav Zgusta. The birth of the new discipline was not without controversy, with the practical dictionary-makers being sometimes accused by others of having an "astonishing" lack of method and critical-self reflection.