non-locking
|non-lock-ing|
🇺🇸
/nɑnˈlɑkɪŋ/
🇬🇧
/nɒnˈlɒkɪŋ/
does not engage a lock
Etymology
'non-locking' originates from English by combining the prefix 'non-' (meaning 'not') with 'locking', which is formed from 'lock' + '-ing'.
'non-' as a negative prefix comes into English usage from Latin 'non' meaning 'not', while 'lock' comes from Old English 'loc' meaning 'bolt, fastening'; 'loc' became Middle English 'lok' and then modern English 'lock'. The compound 'non-locking' is a straightforward modern English formation using the negative prefix plus the present-participle/gerund form.
Initially the parts meant simply 'not' + 'locking' (i.e., 'not engaging a lock'); over time the compound retained that basic sense and extended into technical fields (e.g., computing) to describe mechanisms or algorithms that operate without using locks.
Meanings by Part of Speech
Adjective 1
not designed to engage a lock; not fastening or causing a mechanism to lock.
The cabinet has a non-locking latch so it can be opened quickly without a key.
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Adjective 2
(Computing) Describing an algorithm, data structure, or operation that does not use mutual-exclusion locks; it allows concurrency without acquiring locks (often used interchangeably with 'lock-free' or 'non-blocking' in informal contexts, though precise meanings can vary).
The system uses a non-locking queue to improve throughput under heavy concurrency.
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Last updated: 2025/08/23 07:41