latch

Meanings

Verb

• To close or lock as if with a latch.
• To catch; lay hold of.
• To smear; to anoint.

Noun

• 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.
• An electronic circuit that is like a flip-flop, except that it is level triggered instead of edge triggered.
• A latching.
• A crossbow.
• That which fastens or holds; a lace; a snare.
• A breastfeeding baby's connection to the breast.
• A lightweight lock to protect internal structures from being modified by multiple concurrent accesses.

Origin

• From Middle English lacchen ("to seize, catch, grasp"), from Old English læċċan ("to grasp, take hold of, catch, seize"), from Proto-Germanic *lakjaną, *lakwijaną, *lakkijaną, from Proto-Indo-European *(s)leh₂g-, *(s)leh₂gʷ-. Cognate with Middle Dutch lakken.
• From Middle English latche, lacche, from lacchen, from Old English læċċan ("to grasp, take hold of, catch, seize"). See above for more.
• Compare French lécher ("to lick").