Etymograph

English

rekey

From re- + key.

A compound of re- + key

Proto-Italic *wre- ‘again’

English re-

Proto-West Germanic *kaiju

Old English cǣġ ‘key’

Middle English keye ‘a key’

English key

Today it means

verb To enter information into a device, such as a keyboard or keypad, after it has been done at least once before.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “rekey”. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / rekey