login
[ noun lawg-in, log-; verb lawg-in, log- ]
/ noun ˈlɔgˌɪn, ˈlɒg-; verb ˌlɔgˈɪn, ˌlɒg- /
noun Also log-in, logon.
the act of logging in to a database, mobile device, or computer, especially a multiuser computer or a remote or networked computer system.
a username and password that allows a person to log in to a computer system, network, mobile device, or user account.
verb (used without object)
to log in: Login with your new password. See log1(def 17).
usage note for login
Many who are neither professionals in the computer field nor amateur tech enthusiasts condemn the use of the solid form
login as a verb, and with reason. It doesn’t behave like a normal verb. You cannot say you have
loginned, and you are never in the process of
loginning. Moreover, you cannot even ask someone to
login you; you must ask that person to
log you
in. Clearly, it is the two-word phrase
log in that functions fully as an English verb and not the solid form. Normally, we would expect
log in, the verb phrase and
login, the noun to behave in the same way as similar pairs:
blow out/blowout, crack down/crackdown, hang up/hangup, splash down/splashdown, turn off/turnoff, where the two-word phrase is a verb and the one-word form a noun.
And yet, this gluing together of terms like login, logon, backup, and setup as verbs is common, especially in writing about computers. Not for everyone, however. Some well-known software companies, for example, carefully maintain the distinction in their programs and documentation.
But habits are difficult to change. Those who react to the one-word verb as an error will probably have to get used to it, and those who use the one-word verb will have to recognize that others will see it and wince.
And yet, this gluing together of terms like login, logon, backup, and setup as verbs is common, especially in writing about computers. Not for everyone, however. Some well-known software companies, for example, carefully maintain the distinction in their programs and documentation.
But habits are difficult to change. Those who react to the one-word verb as an error will probably have to get used to it, and those who use the one-word verb will have to recognize that others will see it and wince.
Words nearby login
logically possible,
logician,
logicism,
logicize,
logie,
login,
logion,
logistic,
logistic curve,
logistician,
logistics