- close (v.)
- c.1200, "to shut, cover in," from O.Fr. clos- pp. stem of clore "shut," from L. clausus, pp. of claudere "to close, block up, put an end to, enclose, confine," from PIE base *klau- "hook, crooked or forked branch" (used as a bar or bolt in primitive structures); cf. L. clavis "key," clavus "nail," claustrum "bar, bolt, barrier," claustra "dam, wall, barricade, stronghold;" Gk. kleidos "bar, bolt, key," klobos "cage;" O.Ir. clo "nail;" O.C.S. kljucu "hook, key," kljuciti "shut;" Lith. kliuti "to catch, be caught on," kliaudziu "check, hinder," kliuvu "clasp, hang;" O.H.G. sliozan "shut," Ger. schließen "shut," Schüßel "key;" M.Ir. clithar "hedge, fence." Replaced O.E. beclysan.
- close (adj.)
- early 14c., "strictly confined," also "secret," from O.Fr. clos "confined," from L. clausus, pp. of claudere "stop up, fasten, shut" (see close (v.)); sense shifting to "near" (late 15c.) by way of "closing the gap between two things." Close call is 1881; close shave is 1834; close quarters is 1753, originally nautical. Close-up (n.) in photography, etc., is from 1913. Closed circuit is attested from 1827; closed shop in union sense from 1904; closed system first recorded 1896 in William James; close-minded is attested from 1854.