A Socket Was Once a Small Ploughshare
A socket is a hollow that something fits into. The word came from a French term for a small plough blade, named for its shape.
A socket is a hollow shaped to receive something else — a bulb, a plug, a bone. The route is unexpected: Anglo-French *soket* was a small ploughshare, a diminutive of *soc*, the plough blade, and the name transferred to the socket-shaped fitting the blade sat in. From farm iron to the wall behind your desk, by way of anatomy.
- An electrical outlet. *A wall socket.*
- A holder for a bulb. *A bayonet socket.*
- A hollow in a bone. *The eye socket.*
- A tool fitting. *A socket wrench.*
- In networking — an endpoint for communication. *An open socket.*
Word forms
| Form | Word | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Noun | socket | A loose socket. |
| Plural | sockets | Four sockets. |
| Verb | socket | Socketed joints. |
| Compound | socket set | A socket set. |
| Related | plug | Pull the plug. |
- There is only one socket in the whole room.British: outlet in American English.
- He dislocated the shoulder from its socket.Anatomy.
- The server listens on a socket.Computing.
Ball and socket joints
- Shoulder — the most mobile joint in the body, and the easiest to dislocate
- Hip — a deeper socket, far more stable
- The trade-off — a shallow socket buys movement at the cost of security
- Eye socket — the bony orbit, seven bones meeting around the eye
- Tooth socket — the alveolus, which reshapes itself after a tooth is lost
Anglo-French *soket*, a small ploughshare, a diminutive of Old French *soc*, plough blade, probably from a Celtic source. English has used it for hollow fittings since the 1300s.
Is a socket the same as an outlet?
Yes. Socket is the usual British word for a mains connection point; American English says outlet or receptacle.
Why is a network endpoint called a socket?
Because it is a place where a connection plugs in. The metaphor was chosen in the early 1970s and stuck.