Key vs Point - What's the difference?

In historical terms the difference between key and point

is that key is a manual electrical switching device primarily used for the transmission of Morse code while point is a string or lace used to tie together certain garments.

In lang=en terms the difference between key and point

is that key is to operate (the transmitter switch of a two-way radio) while point is to give particular prominence to; to designate in a special manner; to point out.

As nouns the difference between key and point

is that key is an object designed to open and close a lock while point is a discrete division of something.

As verbs the difference between key and point

is that key is to fit (a lock) with a key while point is to extend the index finger in the direction of something in order to show where it is or to draw attention to it.

As an adjective key

is indispensable, supremely important.

As a proper noun Key

is {{surname}.

key

English

Etymology 1

From (etyl) keye, kaye, . For the semantic development, note that medieval keys were simply long poles (ending in a hook) with which a crossbar obstructing a door from the inside could be removed from the outside, by lifting it through a hole in the door.

Noun

(en noun)

An object designed to open and close a lock.

* , chapter=13

, title= Mr. Pratt's Patients , passage=We tiptoed into the house, up the stairs and along the hall into the room where the Professor had been spending so much of his time. 'Twas locked, of course, but the Deacon man got a big bunch of keys out of his pocket and commenced to putter with the lock.}}

An object designed to fit between two other objects (such as a shaft and a wheel) in a mechanism and maintain their relative orientation.

A crucial step or requirement.

* (John Locke) (1632-1705)

Those who are accustomed to reason have got the true key of books.

* (1809-1892)

who keeps the keys of all the creeds

A guide explaining the symbols or terminology of a map or chart; a legend.

A guide to the correct answers of a worksheet or test.

(label) One of several small, usually square buttons on a typewriter or computer keyboard, mostly corresponding to text characters.

(label) One of a number of rectangular moving parts on a piano or musical keyboard, each causing a particular sound or note to be produced.

(label) One of various levers on a musical instrument used to select notes, such as a lever opening a hole on a woodwind.

(label) A hierarchical scale of musical notes on which a composition is based.

* 1881 , R.L. Stevenson, :

A girl, it is true, has always lived in a glass house among reproving relatives, whose word was law; she has been bred up to sacrifice her judgments and take the key submissively from dear papa; and it is wonderful how swiftly she can change her tune into the husband's.

(label) The general pitch or tone of a sentence or utterance.

* (William Cowper) (1731-1800)

You fall at once into a lower key .

(label) An indehiscent, one-seeded fruit furnished with a wing, such as the fruit of the ash and maple; a samara.

(label) A manual electrical switching device primarily used for the transmission of Morse code.

(label) A piece of information (e.g. a passphrase) used to encode or decode a message or messages.

(label) A password restricting access to an IRC channel.

* 2000 , "Robert Erdec", Re: Help; mIRC32; unable to resolve server arnes.si'' (on newsgroup ''alt.irc.mirc )

if you know someone who is in the channel, you can query them and ask for the key .

(label) In a relational database, a field used as an index into another table (not necessarily unique).

(label) A value that uniquely identifies an entry in an associative array.

(label) The free-throw lane together with the circle surrounding the free-throw line, the free-throw lane having formerly been narrower, giving the area the shape of a skeleton key hole.

(label) A series of logically organized groups of discriminating information which aims to allow the user to correctly identify a taxon.

(label) Kilogram (though this is more commonly shortened to kay ).

* 2010 , David J. Silas, Da Block (page 41)

So starting with ten keys' of cocaine and two ' keys of heroin, Derrick put his plan in motion. Soon every major drug dealer and gang chief from Chicago Avenue to Evanston was in his pocket.

(label) A piece of wood used as a wedge.

(label) The last board of a floor when laid down.

(label) A keystone.

That part of the plastering which is forced through between the laths and holds the rest in place.

(rail transport) A wooden support for a rail on the bullhead rail system.

(label) The object used to open or close a lock, often used as a heraldic charge.

Derived terms

(Derived terms) * candidate key * card key * church key * foreign key * keyboard * keycard * key card * keychain, key chain * key fob, keyfob * keyhole * keynote * keypad * keyring, key ring * key signature * keystone * keystroke * keyword * major key * minor key * Morse key * primary key * public-key cryptography * skeleton key * unique key

Adjective

(en adjective)

Indispensable, supremely important.

He is the key player on his soccer team.

* 2007 , Mark H. Moss, Shopping as an Entertainment Experience (page 46)

Lukas intimates that one of Disney's key attractions was "Main Street USA,” which "mimicked a downtown business district just as Southdale" had done.

Important, salient.

She makes several key points.

* {{quote-book, year=2006, author=

, title=Internal Combustion , chapter=2 citation , passage=Throughout the 1500s, the populace roiled over a constellation of grievances of which the forest emerged as a key focal point. The popular late Middle Ages fictional character Robin Hood, dressed in green to symbolize the forest, dodged fines for forest offenses and stole from the rich to give to the poor. But his appeal was painfully real and embodied the struggle over wood.}}

* {{quote-news

, year=2011 , date=September 29 , author=Jon Smith , title=Tottenham 3 - 1 Shamrock Rovers , work=BBC Sport citation , page= , passage=With the north London derby to come at the weekend, Spurs boss Harry Redknapp opted to rest many of his key players, although he brought back Aaron Lennon after a month out through injury.}}

Usage notes

The first meaning is distinguished by the definite article, as seen in the quotations.

Verb

(en verb)

To fit (a lock) with a key.

To fit (pieces of a mechanical assembly) with a key to maintain the orientation between them.

To mark or indicate with a symbol indicating membership in a class.

* 1996 January, Garden Dsign Ideas , second printing, (Taunton Press), ISBN 1561580791, page 25,

So I worked on a tissue-paper copy of the perimeter plan, outlining groupings of plants of the same species and keying them with letters for the species.

* 2001 , Bruce M. Metzger, The Bible in Translation , ISBN 0801022827, page 87,

The volume closes with thirty pages of "Notes, critical and explanatory," in which Thomson provides seventy-six longer or shorter notes keyed to specific sections of the synopsis.

* 2002 , Karen Bromley, Stretching Students' Vocabulary , ISBN 0439288398, page 12,

Talk about similarities between the words and write them below to the left of the anchor, keying' them with a plus sign (+). Talk about the characteristics that set the words apart and list them below the box to the right, ' keying them with a tilde sign (~).

* 2007 , Stephen Blake Mettee, Michelle Doland and Doris Hall, compilers, The American Directory of Writer's Guidelines , 6th ("2007–2008") edition, ISBN 1884956580, page 757,

Indicate the comparative value of each heading by keying it with a number in pencil, in the left margin, as follows:

(telegraphy and radio telegraphy) To depress (a telegraph key).

(radio) To operate (the transmitter switch of a two-way radio).

(computing) (more usually to key in ) To enter (information) by typing on a keyboard or keypad.

Our instructor told us to key in our user IDs.

(colloquial) To vandalize (a car, etc.) by scratching with an implement such as a key.

He keyed the car that had taken his parking spot.

To link (as one might do with a key or legend).

* 1960 , Richard L. Masland, "Classification of the Epilepsies", in Epilepsia , volume 1, page 516,

The American Heart Association has prepared their own guide to classification and, keying it with the Standard Nomenclature of Diseases , have done much to encourage a concise yet complete diagnosis.

* '>citation

(intransitive, biology, chiefly, taxonomy) To be identified as a certain taxon when using a key.

To fasten or secure firmly; to fasten or tighten with keys or wedges.

(Francis)

Derived terms

* key in * key off * key out * keyed up

Etymology 2

Variant of cay, from (etyl) cayo.

Alternative forms

* cay

Noun

(en noun)

One of a string of small islands.

"the Florida Keys "

Anagrams

Etymology 3

Noun

(en noun)

1000 English basic words ----

point

English

(wikipedia point)

Noun

(en noun)

A discrete division of something.

# An individual element in a larger whole; a particular detail, thought, or quality.

The Congress debated the finer points of the bill.

# A particular moment in an event or occurrence; a juncture.

There comes a point in a marathon when some people give up.

At this point in the meeting, I'd like to propose a new item for the agenda.

# (archaic) Condition, state.

She was not feeling in good point .

# A topic of discussion or debate; a proposition, a focus of conversation or consideration.

I made the point that we all had an interest to protect.

# (obsolete) The smallest quantity of something; a jot, a whit.

#* 1590 , Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene , I.ii:

full large of limbe and euery ioint / He was, and cared not for God or man a point .

# (obsolete) A tiny amount of time; a moment.

#* Sir J. Davies

When time's first point begun / Made he all souls.

# A specific location or place, seen as a spatial position.

We should meet at a pre-arranged point .

# (mathematics, science) A zero-dimensional mathematical object representing a location in one or more dimensions; something considered to have position but no magnitude or direction.

# A purpose or objective.

Since the decision has already been made, I see little point in further discussion.

# A full stop or other terminal punctuation mark.

#* Alexander Pope

Commas and points they set exactly right.

# (music) A dot or mark used to designate certain tones or time. In ancient music, it distinguished or characterized certain tones or styles (points of perfection, of augmentation, etc.). In modern music, it is placed on the right of a note to raise its value, or prolong its time, by one half.

# (by extension) A note; a tune.

#* Sir Walter Scott

Sound the trumpet — not a levant, or a flourish, but a point of war.

# A distinguishing quality or characteristic.

Logic isn't my strong point .

# Something tiny, as a pinprick; a very small mark.

The stars showed as tiny points of yellow light.

# (now only in phrases) A tenth; formerly also a twelfth.

Possession is nine points of the law.

# Each of the marks or strokes written above letters, especially in Semitic languages, to indicate vowels, stress etc.

# (gaming) A unit of scoring in a game or competition.

The one with the most points will win the game

# (mathematics) A decimal point (now especially when reading decimal fractions aloud).

10.5 ("ten point five"; = ten and a half)

# (economics) A unit used to express differences in prices of stocks and shares.

# (typography) a unit of measure equal to 1/12 of a pica, or approximately 1/72 of an inch (exactly 1/72 of an inch in the digital era).

# (UK) An electric power socket.

# (navigation, nautical) A unit of bearing equal to one thirty-second of a circle, i.e. 11.25°.

Ship ahoy, three points off the starboard bow!

A sharp extremity.

# The sharp tip of an object.

Cut the skin with the point of the knife.

# Any projecting extremity of an object.

# An object which has a sharp or tapering tip.

His cowboy belt was studded with points .

# (backgammon) Each of the twelve triangular positions in either table of a backgammon board, on which the stones are played.

# A peninsula or promontory.

# The position at the front or vanguard of an advancing force.

#* 2005 , Martin Torgoff, Can't Find My Way Home: America in the Great Stoned Age, 1945–2000 , Simon & Schuster, ISBN 978-0-7432-3011-6, page 189:

Willie Jones decided to become Kimani Jones, Black Panther, on the day his best friend, Otis Nicholson, stepped on a mine while walking point during a sweep in the central highlands.

# Each of the main directions on a compass, usually considered to be 32 in number; a direction.

# (nautical) The difference between two points of the compass.

to fall off a point

# Pointedness of speech or writing; a penetrating or decisive quality of expression.

#* 1897 , (Henry James), (What Maisie Knew) :

There was moreover a hint of the duchess in the infinite point with which, as she felt, she exclaimed: "And this is what you call coming often ?"

#* , chapter=4

, title= Mr. Pratt's Patients , passage=I told him about everything I could think of; and what I couldn't think of he did. He asked about six questions during my yarn, but every question had a point to it. At the end he bowed and thanked me once more. As a thanker he was main-truck high; I never see anybody so polite.}}

# (railroads, UK, in the plural) A railroad switch.

# (usually, in the plural) An area of contrasting colour on an animal, especially a dog; a marking.

The point color of that cat was a deep, rich sable.

# (cricket) A fielding position square of the wicket on the off side, between gully and cover.

# A tine or snag of an antler.

# (fencing) A movement executed with the sabre or foil.

tierce point

(heraldry) One of the several different parts of the escutcheon.

(nautical) A short piece of cordage used in reefing sails.

(historical) A string or lace used to tie together certain garments.

(Sir Walter Scott)

Lace worked by the needle.

point''' de Venise; Brussels '''point

(US, slang, dated) An item of private information; a hint; a tip; a pointer.

The attitude assumed by a pointer dog when he finds game.

The dog came to a point .

Synonyms

* (location or place) location, place, position, spot * (in geometry) ord * (particular moment in an event or occurrence) moment, ord, time * (sharp tip) end, ord, tip * (arithmetic symbol) decimal point * (opinion) opinion, point of view, view, viewpoint * (unit of measure of success or failure) mark (in a competition) * (color of extremities of an animal)

Derived terms

* accidental point * accumulation point * ballpoint * basepoint * basis point * beside the point * boiling point * boundary point * branch point * break point * Brownie point * bullet point * cardinal point * case in point * cashpoint * closest point of approach * cloud point * coincidence point * commit point * compass point * consolute point * critical point * data point * decimal point * deep point * demerit point * dew point * Didot point * double point * dropping point * dry point, drypoint * endpoint * entry point * entry point for the eye * eutectic point * experience point * fixed point * fixed-point * flash point * floating-point * focal point * freezing point * game point * get the point * get to the point * gunpoint * hit points * hollow point * inflection point * in point of fact * isoelectric point * isolated point * knifepoint * (l) * limit point * make a point * match point * melting point * midpoint * moot point * needlepoint * nip point * one-point perspective * on point * on the point of * ordinary point * outpoint * percentage point * Pica point * pointable * point bar * point blank * point break * point cloud * point duty * pointed * point function * point group * point-in-line * pointless * point man * point mass * point mutation * point of articulation * point-of-care imaging * point of contact * point of fact * point of inevitability * point of inflection, point of inflexion * point of no return * point of order * point of pride * point of reference * point of sale * point of the compass * point of view * point set * point source * point taken * pointwise * pointy * power point * pressure point * reference point * seal point * set point * silly point * single point of failure * singular point * skill point * sore point * standpoint * starting point * stationary point * sticking point * stress point * take point * take someone's point * talking point * three-point line * three-point perspective * three-point turn * tipping point * to the point * trig point * triple point * transition point * turning point * two-point perspective * vanishing point * vantage point * waypoint * what’s the point? * zero point * zero-point energy

Descendants

* Japanese:

Verb

(en verb)

To extend the index finger in the direction of something in order to show where it is or to draw attention to it.

* Shakespeare

Now must the world point at poor Katharine.

* Dryden

Point at the tattered coat and ragged shoe.

* {{quote-news, year=2011, date=October 23, author=Becky Ashton, work=BBC Sport

, title= QPR 1 - 0 Chelsea , passage=Luiz struggled with the movement of Helguson in the box, as he collected a long ball and the Spaniard barged him over, leaving referee Chris Foy little option but to point to the spot.}}

To draw attention to something or indicate a direction.

* {{quote-magazine, date=2013-06-07, author= Ed Pilkington

, volume=188, issue=26, page=6, magazine=(The Guardian Weekly) , title= ‘Killer robots’ should be banned in advance, UN told , passage=In his submission to the UN, [Christof] Heyns points to the experience of drones. Unmanned aerial vehicles were intended initially only for surveillance, and their use for offensive purposes was prohibited, yet once strategists realised their perceived advantages as a means of carrying out targeted killings, all objections were swept out of the way.}}

To direct toward an object; to aim.

to point a gun at a wolf, or a cannon at a fort

To give a point to; to sharpen; to cut, forge, grind, or file to an acute end.

to point a dart, a pencil, or (figuratively) a moral

to indicate a probability of something

* {{quote-news, year=2011, date=December 21, author=Helen Pidd, work=the Guardian

, title= Europeans migrate south as continent drifts deeper into crisis , passage=Tens of thousands of Portuguese, Greek and Irish people have left their homelands this year, many heading for the southern hemisphere. Anecdotal evidence points to the same happening in Spain and Italy.}}

(ambitransitive, masonry) To repair mortar.

(masonry) To fill up and finish the joints of (a wall), by introducing additional cement or mortar, and bringing it to a smooth surface.

(stone-cutting) To cut, as a surface, with a pointed tool.

To direct or encourage (someone) in a particular direction.

* Alexander Pope

Whosoever should be guided through his battles by Minerva, and pointed to every scene of them.

(mathematics) To separate an integer from a decimal with a decimal point.

To mark with diacritics.

(dated) To supply with punctuation marks; to punctuate.

to point a composition

(computing) To direct the central processing unit to seek information at a certain location in memory.

(Internet) To direct requests sent to a domain name to the IP address corresponding to that domain name.

(nautical) To sail close to the wind.

(hunting) To indicate the presence of game by a fixed and steady look, as certain hunting dogs do.

* John Gay

He treads with caution, and he points with fear.

(medicine, of an abscess) To approximate to the surface; to head.

(obsolete) To appoint.

(Spenser)

(dated) To give particular prominence to; to designate in a special manner; to point out.

* Charles Dickens

He points it, however, by no deviation from his straightforward manner of speech.

(Alexander Pope)

Derived terms

* point at * pointer * point out * to have a point * point the finger * repoint

Statistics

External links

* *

Anagrams

* * * * 1000 English basic words ----

Key vs Point - What's the difference?

In historical terms the difference between key and point

In lang=en terms the difference between key and point

As nouns the difference between key and point

As verbs the difference between key and point

As an adjective key

As a proper noun Key

key

English

Etymology 1

Noun

Derived terms

See also

Adjective

Usage notes

Verb

Derived terms

Etymology 2

Alternative forms

Noun

Anagrams

Etymology 3

Noun

point

English

Noun

Synonyms

See also

Derived terms

Descendants

Verb

Derived terms

Statistics

External links

Anagrams

Key vs Point - What's the difference?

In historical terms the difference between key and point

In lang=en terms the difference between key and point

As nouns the difference between key and point

As verbs the difference between key and point

As an adjective key

As a proper noun Key

key

English

Etymology 1

Noun

Derived terms

See also

Adjective

Usage notes

Verb

Derived terms

Etymology 2

Alternative forms

Noun

Anagrams

Etymology 3

Noun

point

English

Noun

Synonyms

See also

Derived terms

Related terms

Descendants

Verb

Derived terms

Statistics

External links

Anagrams