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Original · left

Lock (security device)

A mechanical fastening mechanism secured with a deadbolt, padlock, or combination tumbler.

First in use: ancient / pre-modern
Duplicate · right

Lock (computer science)

A synchronization primitive that restricts shared memory or resource access to a single processing thread at a time.

First in use: c. 1965

Lock / Lock (security device) / Lock (computer science)

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Duplicate share · 12 mo—
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Colour keyGrey · original meaningGreen · duplicate meaningAmber · contested (40–60%)How colours work

Padlocks vs. mutexes.

Which meaning of Lock is the original, and which one is the duplicate riding on its name? Lock (security device) came first (ancient / pre-modern). Lock (computer science) arrived in 1965. The data below shows which one owns the word now.

Wikipedia pageviews since 2015

Lock (security device)Lock (computer science)
English Wikipedia pageviews since July 2015 load here.

Duplicate's share of attention

Green line = duplicate's % · above 60 it owns the word · below 40 the original does

Share-of-attention line loads here.

The case for each meaning

Sourced definitions, usage stats and quotes

Original · ancient / pre-modern

Lock (security device)

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Duplicate · c. 1965

Lock (computer science)

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More duplicated terms

Programming & software