login

American  

[lawg-in, log-, lawg-in, log-] / ˈlɔgˌɪn, ˈlɒg-, ˌlɔgˈɪn, ˌlɒg- /

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!

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verb (used without object)

1. log in.

   Login with your new password.

Usage

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.

Etymology

Origin of login

First recorded in 1965–70

Compare meaning

How does login compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:

• sign-in vs. login

Example Sentences

However, login details and payment information weren’t breached.

From Barron's

No credit card information or login credentials were leaked.

From BBC

The hackers gained access to the accounts by first convincing a small number of Twitter employees to hand over their internal login details - which eventually granted them access to the social media site's administrative tools.

From BBC

For example, it made up fake login usernames and passwords and claimed to have extracted secret information which was in fact publicly available.

From BBC

In perhaps the most dramatic example, Russell said the company has about 100 “digital employees” that possess their own distinct login credentials, communicate via email or Microsoft Teams, and report to a human manager, a system designed to provide a framework for managing, auditing and scaling the agent “workforce.”

From The Wall Street Journal