login

[ noun lawg-in, log-; verb lawg-in, log- ]

noun

1. the act of logging in to a database, mobile device, or computer, especially a multiuser computer or a remote or networked computer system:

   The program records the time of each login.

2. a username and password that allows a person to log in to a computer system, network, mobile device, or user account:

   I’ve forgotten my login again!

verb (used without object)

1. log in:

   Login with your new password.

Usage Note

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 good 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, not the solid form. Normally, we would expect the verb phrase log in and the noun login 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 is 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, though; some well-known software companies, for example, carefully maintain the distinction in their programs and documentation. The wisest course is to find out what the standard is among those for whom you’re writing, and follow it.

Word History and Origins

Origin of login¹

First recorded in 1965–70

Example Sentences

My login is my junior-high AOL screen name, which I always told people came from a nickname on the basketball team.

From The Daily Beast

Were they going to use the word ‘login,’ or ‘handle,’ or something technical like that?

From The Daily Beast

Login to your account and check to see what fund the money is in.

From The Daily Beast

With FacebookCard added to our Facebook accounts, all we have to do is use that same login, and the transaction is done.

From The Daily Beast

But no one's going to risk sharing a FacebookCard login with a friend, so content providers can rest easy.

From The Daily Beast

I unplugged one of her bedside screens and attached my Xbox to it so that we could both login at once.

From Project Gutenberg

"Your login and password," she said, looking a little surprised.

From Project Gutenberg

I'd like you to tell me your login and password for your Pirate Party email, please?

From Project Gutenberg

I saw Severe Haircut Woman's face, saw her smirk as she asked me for my login.

From Project Gutenberg

A Mr. Manning bought a portion of them, and Charles Login the rest.

From Project Gutenberg