different between latch vs coupler

English

Pronunciation

• enPR: l?ch, IPA^(key): /læt?/
• Rhymes: -æt?

Etymology 1

From Middle English lacchen (“to seize, catch, grasp”, verb), from Old English læ??an (“to grasp, take hold of, catch, seize”), from Proto-Germanic *lakjan?, *lakwijan?, *lakkijan? (“to seize”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)leh?g-, *(s)leh?g?- (“to take, seize”). Cognate with Middle Dutch lakken (“to grasp, catch”).

Verb

latch (third-person singular simple present latches, present participle latching, simple past and past participle latched)

1. To close or lock as if with a latch.
2. (transitive) To catch; lay hold of.

Derived terms

• latch on
• latch on to
• latch onto

Translations

Etymology 2

From Middle English latche, lacche (“a latch; a trap”), from lacchen (“to seize, catch, grasp”), from Old English læ??an (“to grasp, take hold of, catch, seize”). See above for more.

Noun

latch (plural latches)

1. A fastening for a door that has a bar that fits into a notch or slot, and is lifted by a lever or string from either side.
   • 1912: Edgar Rice Burroughs, Tarzan of the Apes, Chapter 4

     The cleverly constructed latch which Clayton had made for the door had sprung as Kerchak passed out; nor could the apes find means of ingress through the heavily barred windows.

2. A flip-flop electronic circuit
3. (obsolete) A latching.
4. (obsolete) A crossbow.
5. (obsolete) That which fastens or holds; a lace; a snare.

   (Can we find and add a quotation of The Romaunt of the Rose to this entry?)

6. A breastfeeding baby's connection to the breast.
7. (databases) A lightweight lock to protect internal structures from being modified by multiple concurrent accesses.

Derived terms

• on the latch

Translations

Alternative forms

• lech, letch

Etymology 3

Compare French lécher (“to lick”).

Verb

latch (third-person singular simple present latches, present participle latching, simple past and past participle latched)

1. (obsolete) To smear; to anoint.

English

Etymology

From couple +? -er.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /?k?pl?/

Noun

coupler (plural couplers)

1. (now rare) Someone who couples things together, especially someone whose job it is to couple railway carriages.
2. Anything that serves to couple things together; but especially a device that couples railway carriages.
3. (music) A device that connects two keyboards of an organ together so that they play together.
4. A device used to convert electronic information into audible sound signals for transmission over telephone lines.
5. An electrical device used to transfer energy from one electric device to another, especially without a physical connection.

Translations

French

Etymology

From Latin c?pul?re, present active infinitive of c?pul?. Doublet of the borrowed copuler.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ku.ple/

Verb

coupler

1. to couple

Conjugation

Derived terms

• accoupler
• découpler

Further reading

• “coupler” in Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).