ON THE
DEVELOPMENT AND DISTRIBUTION
OF
PRIMITIVE LOCKS AND KEYS.

ON THE
DEVELOPMENT AND DISTRIBUTION
OF
PRIMITIVE LOCKS AND KEYS.

Etymology of words for Locks and Keys:—"Klu," the Greco-Italian base, to lock (Fick), from the Sanskrit "Klu," to move (Benfey and Monier Williams); "Klavi," key (Fick); "κλϵὶς," Greek, a key; "κλϵὶστρον," Greek, a bolt or bar; "Claustrum," Latin, a lock, bar, or bolt; "Claudo," Latin, to close or shut; "Clausum," Latin, an enclosed space; "Clausura," Latin, a castle; "Clavis," Latin, a key; "Clavus," Latin, a nail; "Clef," French, a key; "Clou," French, a nail; "Clo," Gaelic, a nail, pin, or peg; "Clo," Irish, a nail or pin; "Glas," Irish, a lock; "Clo," Welsh, a lock; "Clar," Bourguignon, a key; "Clau," French provincial, a key; "Clav," old Spanish, a key; "Chiave," Italian, a key; "Chave," Portuguese, a key; "Close," English, to shut. From the same root, "Klu," to move, comes also "Sklu" (Skeat), from which is derived the Teutonic "Slut," to shut, and from thence the Dutch "Slot," a lock, and also a castle, from "Sluiten," to shut; old Friesic "Slot," from "Sluta," to shut; Low German "Slot." Thus also the English provincial word "Slot," a bolt; "Schloss," German, a lock, and also a castle; "Schlüssel," German, a key. From the Latin "Sero," to put, comes "Sera," Latin, a movable bar or bolt; "Serrure," French, a lock; "Serratura," Italian, a lock. The French word "Verrou," a bolt; Wallon "Verou" or "Ferou;" Bourguignon "Varullo;" Provincial "Verroth," "Berroth," and "Ferroth;" Portuguese "Ferrolho." The forms in "f" appear to indicate a derivation from the Latin "ferrum," iron. The English word "Lock" is derived from the Teutonic base, "Luck," to lock (Fick); "Loc," Anglo-Saxon, a lock; "Lock," Friesic, a lock; "Lukke," Danish, a lock; "Loca," Icelandic, a lock or latch, or the lid of a chest; "Lock," Swedish, a lid; "Loke," Wallon; "Luycke," Flemish; "Loquet," French, a catch. In Early English it was pronounced "loke" (Skeat). The English word "Latch" is probably the same as the Danish "Laas," a lock; "Las," Swedish, a lock; "Luchetto," Italian, a latch. Skeat derives it from the Anglo-Saxon word "lœccan," to seize; in Early English it was pronounced "Lacche," and he suggests the probability of its being derived from the Latin word "Laqueus," a snare, but this is doubtful. "Hasp," English, is derived from the Teutonic base, "Hapsa;" "Hæpsa," Anglo-Saxon; "Hespa," Icelandic; "Haspe," Danish; "Haspe," Swedish; "Haspe," German. "Moraillon," the French word for "hasp," is of uncertain origin, but Littré supposes it to be derived from the provincial "Mor," a muzzle, probably the French word "Mors," a bit; "Morsum," Latin, a bit or a little piece; "Morsus," Latin, a bite, as well as the English "Muzzle" and "Nozzle," are all derived from the same root. "Clef bénarde," a key that is not piped (forée) (Hamilton and Legros) or furnished with grooves, and which can be opened from both sides, is from "Bernard," which in old French signifies a fool, hence a "clef bernarde" or "bénarde" is an inferior kind of key (Littré). The English word "Key" was derived from the Anglo-Saxon "Cæg" by the change of "g" into "y;" old Friesic "Kai" and "Kei." The English word "Bolt," which is now applied to the most primitive form of the mechanism, and probably the one from which the others took their origin, appears to have been obtained from the Anglo-Saxon word "Bolt," a catapult. Thus we have the Danish "Bolt," an iron pin; "Bout," Dutch, a bolt or pin; "Bolz," German, and it appears to have been adopted from its resemblance to the bolt or arrow used with the catapult. Crabb ('Technical Dictionary of Arts and Sciences') thinks it comes from the Latin "Pello," to drive, and the Greek "Ballo," to cast, and that it has thus been applied to anything shooting, as a bolt of a door, or a bird bolt, whilst Skeat supposes it to have been named like "bolster" from its roundness.

The word "Padlock" is important in relation to our subject. This kind of lock is especially suitable as a fastening for baskets and saddle bags; being a hanging lock, less liable to injury from knocks than a fixed lock, it is used in preference to this day for travelling purposes. The word "Pad" is a provincial Norfolk word used for "Pannier" (Halliwell and Skeat). It hangs about all words relating to early modes of travelling, thus we have, "Pad," a stuffed saddle for carrying a pannier on horseback; "Pad-nag," a road horse; "Pad," a thief on the high road; "Pad," Dutch, a path, "Pæth," Anglo-Saxon, a path; "Pfad," German, a path, which latter English word is also itself cognate with pad; "Pod," a bag carried on horseback; "Pedlar," a travelling hawker. The word "Padlock" therefore means "Road lock," and it is significant in relation to the way in which padlocks of like form may have become distributed over wide areas in early times. The French word "Cadenas," a padlock, comes from the Latin "Catena," a chain, and the connection is obvious; "Catenaccio," Italian; "Candado" and "Cadena," Spanish; "Cadenat," French provincial; Berry "Chadaine," a cord; Picard "Cagne" and "Caine;" hence also the French word "Chaîne," and the English "Chain."

We see from this, that, as is usual in like cases, the words have followed lines of their own, and afford but little evidence of the forms of the objects to which they have been applied, excepting in so far that the common word "Klu" or "Clo" for lock and pin, and its connection with the base "Klu," to move, implies that the earliest form consisted of a movable bolt. But, in any case, whether we take the Latin word "Sero", to put, or the Sanskrit "Klu," to move, as independent origins of words for locks, we are carried back to a time when it consisted of a simple bar or bolt put up or slipped through staples to close a door. The passage in the 'Odyssey,' so often quoted in relation to the construction of Greek door locks, does not in reality throw much light upon the subject so long as it is unassisted by archæological discoveries. It has been variously translated,[1] and we are left very much to conjecture for the forms of the most primitive kinds of locks which preceded those of which the relics are to be found in our collections of antiquities. It is noteworthy, however, that the earliest vestiges of apparatus connected with door fastenings in metal, that are discovered, consist of keys, which leads to the inference that the locks themselves may have been made of wood, and have therefore perished. But we have survivals of primitive wooden locks in use at the present time in different countries,