Etymograph

English

subkey

From sub- + key.

Formed from sub- + key

Proto-Indo-European *upó ‘up; from below’

Proto-Italic *supo ‘under’

Latin sub ‘under, beneath, below’

English sub-

Proto-West Germanic *kaiju

Old English cǣġ ‘key’

Middle English keye ‘a key’

English key

Today it means

noun A partial key.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “subkey”. 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 / subkey