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

Gamified activities can make lessons interactive and engaging — for example, turn spotting phishing emails into a treasure hunt or host a "password showdown" to see who can create the most secure login.

From Salon

Co-conspirators are alleged to have used access codes sent to the phone to login to the SEC's X account.

From BBC

Access was restored on 3 October – but the parent then found that the same websites could still be viewed using a child’s login once the “safe-search” option was toggled off in settings.

From BBC

Thieves can use leaked data to guess your current login credentials.

From Salon

Instagram has been in the news lately for all sorts of unflattering reasons: planning to force “mixed reality” experiences and A.I.-generated images onto user feeds, testing out a weird custom sound meant to be incorporated within all uploaded Reels, getting fined by the European Union for having leaked up to 600 million accounts’ login credentials, and earning outrage from celebrities for training Meta’s A.I. models on their posts while allegedly reducing their profiles’ general visibility.

From Slate