latch

See also: LATCH

English

Pronunciation

• enPR: lăch, IPA^(key): /læt͡ʃ/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ætʃ

Etymology 1

From Middle English lacchen (“to seize, catch, grasp”, verb), from Old English læċċan (“to grasp, take hold of, catch, seize”), from Proto-Germanic *lakjaną, *lakwijaną, *lakkijaną (“to seize”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)leh₂g-, *(s)leh₂gʷ- (“to take, seize”). Cognate with Middle Dutch lakken (“to grasp, catch”).

Verb

latch (third-person singular simple present latches, present participle latching, simple past and past participle latched or (obsolete) laught)

1. To close or lock as if with a latch.
2. (transitive) To catch; lay hold of.
   • c. 1606 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Macbeth”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene iii]:

     Where hearing should not latch them.

Derived terms

• latch on
• latch on to
• latch onto

Translations

to close with a latch

• Esperanto: rigli
• Finnish: salvata (fi), panna säppiin
• Galician: pechar (gl)
• German: verriegeln (de), einrasten (de), einklinken (de), sperren (de), zuschnappen (de), schließen (de), zuklinken
• Maori: whakarawa
• Portuguese: trincar (pt)
• Swedish: regla (sv)

Etymology 2

From Middle English latche, lacche (“a latch; a trap”), from lacchen (“to seize, catch, grasp”), from Old English læċċan (“to grasp, take hold of, catch, seize”). See above for more.

Noun

latch (plural latches)

A latch

1. 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.
   • 1912 October, Edgar Rice Burroughs, “Tarzan of the Apes”, in The All-Story, New York, N.Y.: Frank A. Munsey Co., →OCLC; republished as chapter 4, in Tarzan of the Apes, New York, N.Y.: A. L. Burt Company, 1914 June, →OCLC:

     The cleverly constructed latch which Clayton had made for the door had sprung as Kerchak passed out; nor could the apes find means of ingress through the heavily barred windows.

2. (electronics) An electronic circuit that is like a flip-flop, except that it is level triggered instead of edge triggered.
3. (obsolete) A latching.
4. (obsolete) A crossbow.
5. (obsolete) That which fastens or holds; a lace; a snare.
   • c. 1360s (date written)​, Geffray Chaucer [i.e., Geoffrey Chaucer], “The Romaunt of the Rose”, in [William Thynne], editor, The Workes of Geffray Chaucer Newlye Printed, […], [London: […] Richard Grafton for] Iohn Reynes […], published 1542, →OCLC:

     Love will none other birde catch,
     Though he set either nette or latch

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

6. A breastfeeding baby's connection to the breast.
7. (databases) A lightweight lock to protect internal structures from being modified by multiple concurrent accesses.

Alternative forms

• lech, letch

Derived terms

• latchbolt
• latchkey
• latch-up
• on the latch
• spring latch
• throat latch

 

Translations

fastening for a door

• Albanian: reze (sq), bakllama (sq)
• Arabic: please add this translation if you can
• Armenian: please add this translation if you can
• Azerbaijani: qapı sürgüsü
• Belarusian: клямка f (kljamka)
• Bulgarian: резе (bg) n (reze), мандало (bg) n (mandalo)
• Catalan: pestell (ca) m
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 門閂／门闩 (zh) (ménshuān), 門釦／门扣 (zh) (ménkòu), 门釦／门扣 (zh) (ménkòu)

• Czech: petlice f
• Dutch: klink (nl) f
• Esperanto: anso, klinko, riglilo
• Finnish: säppi (fi), salpa (fi)
• French: loquet (fr) m
• Galician: pecho (gl) m, caravilla f, martabela f
• Georgian: please add this translation if you can
• German: Riegel (de) m, Falle (de) f, Klinke (de) f, Sperre (de) f, Verriegelung (de) f, Schnappverschluss m, Schnappriegel m, Anschlag (de) m, Verschluss (de) m, Verschlusshebel m, Schnapper (de) m, Schnäpper m, Rastklinke f, Arretierung (de) f
• Greek: μάνταλο (el) m (mántalo), σύρτης (el) m (sýrtis)
• Hebrew: בריח (he) m (baríakh)
• Hindi: सिटकनी (siṭaknī), कुंडी (hi) (kuṇḍī), अर्गल (hi) (argal)
• Hungarian: retesz (hu)
• Icelandic: please add this translation if you can
• Indonesian: selot (id)
• Italian: chiavistello (it) m, fermo (it) m
• Japanese: 掛け金 (ja) (かけがね, kakegane), ラッチ (ratchi)
• Khmer: គន្លឹះទ្វារ (kɔɔnlɨh tviə)
• Korean: 걸쇠 (geolsoe)
• Latvian: please add this translation if you can
• Lithuanian: please add this translation if you can
• Malayalam: കുറ്റി (ml) (kuṟṟi)
• Maltese: please add this translation if you can
• Maori: whakarawa
• Mongolian: түгжээ (mn) (tügžee), оньс (mn) (onʹs)
• Nepali: please add this translation if you can
• Ottoman Turkish: كلید (kilid), مغلاق (miğlak)
• Persian: کلون (fa) (kolun)
• Polish: zasuwa (pl) f, rygiel (pl) m, antaba (pl) f
• Portuguese: tranca (pt) f, trinco (pt)
• Romanian: zăvor (ro) n, zăvoare n pl
• Russian: щеко́лда (ru) f (ščekólda), задви́жка (ru) f (zadvížka), защёлка (ru) f (zaščólka), (дверно́й) запо́р (ru) m (zapór), засо́в (ru) m (zasóv)
• Serbo-Croatian: zasun (sh), reza (sh), zavoranj (sh) m
• Spanish: cerrojo (es) m, pestillo (es) m
• Swedish: hasp, regel (sv)
• Tagalog: busulan
• Tajik: лукидон (lukidon)
• Thai: กลอน (th) (glɔɔn)
• Ukrainian: за́сув m (zásuv)
• Uzbek: gaʻlaqa, loʻkidon (uz)
• Vietnamese: chốt cửa, then cửa
• Welsh: clicied f

flip-flop electronic circuit

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 锁存器 (zh) (suǒcúnqì)

• Finnish: salpa (fi), kiikku (fi)
• German: Klinkenschalter m, Auffangregister n, Signalschalter m
• Greek: μανταλωτής (el) m (mantalotís), μανδαλωτής (el) (mandalotís)
• Polish: przerzutnik m
• Portuguese: flip-flop m
• Spanish: biestable m
• Swedish: låskrets

latching

crossbow

• Dutch: kruisboog (nl)
• Finnish: varsijousi (fi)
• German: Armbrust (de) f
• Macedonian: самострел m (samostrel)
• Polish: kusza (pl) f
• Serbo-Croatian: samostrel m
• Slovak: kuša (sk) f
• Thai: หน้าไม้ (th) (nâa-máai)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

• Spanish: ^{(please verify)} picaporte (es)
• Telugu: ^{(please verify)} గడియ (te) (gaḍiya)

Etymology 3

Compare French lécher (“to lick”).

Verb

latch (third-person singular simple present latches, present participle latching, simple past and past participle latched)

1. (obsolete) To smear; to anoint.
   • c. 1595–1596 (date written), William Shakespeare, “A Midsommer Nights Dreame”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies: Published According to the True Originall Copies (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene ii]:

     But hast thou yet latch'd the Athenian's eyes
     With the love-juice , as I did bid thee do?