A Switch Was a Thin Stick Before It Was Electrical
A switch turns something on or off. The word first meant a slender flexible rod, and railways used it before electricity did.
A switch is a device for opening or closing a circuit, and the verb means to change from one thing to another. The word started as a thin flexible stick used for driving animals, recorded in the 1500s. Railways then used *switch* for the movable rail that sends a train onto another track, and electricity borrowed the term from railways in the 1860s. The lever came before the light.
- An electrical control. *Flick the switch.*
- To change. *Switch to a different supplier.*
- A thin stick. *A birch switch.*
- Railway point (American). *A switch in the yard.*
- Switch off — stop paying attention. *He switched off halfway through.*
Word forms
| Form | Word | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Noun | switch | A light switch. |
| Plural | switches | Several switches. |
| Verb | switch | Switch places. |
| Past | switched | They switched. |
| Compound | switchboard | An old switchboard. |
- The switch is behind the door.The device.
- We switched to a cheaper tariff.Change.
- He switched off during the second half.Figurative.
Switch phrasal verbs
- Switch on — turn on, or become alert
- Switch off — turn off, or stop concentrating
- Switch over — change channel, or change system
- Switch out — replace one thing with another
- Bait and switch — advertise one thing and sell another
Recorded from the 1590s meaning a slender stick, possibly from a Low German source. The railway sense is American, from the 1830s, and the electrical sense follows in the 1860s.
Did switch mean a stick first?
Yes. The earliest English sense is a thin flexible rod. The mechanical and electrical senses came much later.
What is bait and switch?
A deceptive sales tactic: advertise an attractive offer, then push the customer towards a different, worse one.