Etymology

unlock

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Today it means: To undo or open a lock or something locked by, for example, turning a key, or selecting a combination. Full definition →

Middle English unloken ← Old English onlūcan
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The story

  1. Old English · inherited fromonlūcan“to unlock”
  2. Middle English · inherited fromunloken
  3. English todayunlock

From Middle English unloken, unlouken, onlouken, from Old English onlūcan (“to unlock”), equivalent to un- + lock. Cognate with Dutch ontluiken (“to unlock”).

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.