A Bluetooth dongle attached to the USB port of a laptop computer
20 August 2020
A dongle is a device that plugs into a computer, smartphone, or other electronic device to provide some sort of additional functionality. Dongles can add Bluetooth or other wireless functionality, or they can be wired adapters to connect a printer or display. The Oxford English Dictionary says of the term’s origin that it is “apparently an arbitrary formation.” But that gives it short shrift. While the definitive origin is lost to the mists of time, there is a pretty solid guess and several more dubious explanations available.
The original dongle was an anti-piracy device to protect expensive pieces of software. The software would not operate unless the dongle was plugged into the computer. This use is recorded in the pages of New Scientist on 1 October 1981:
Many programs written for the Pet computer make use of a device known as a dongle. The dongle is an extra piece of memory that is plugged into the computer, without which the program refuses to run.
But within a decade dongle was being used for a wide variety of devices and adapters, not just the original anti-piracy device. From the magazine CU Amiga of April 1990:
With the addition of a plug-in Dongle the Amiga version will also feature a four player mode.
Unfortunately, these early uses provide no clue as to the word’s origin. The most likely explanation is that it is a blend of dong + dangle, with the device serving as a metaphor for a penis that hangs off the machine.
Megan Garber, writing in The Atlantic in 2013, gives a rather comprehensive run-down of the of the other possible explanations, which with one exception I will not repeat because they seem to be overreaching. The one exception is the claim that the device was invented by a certain Don Gall, who worked for the company Rainbow Technologies. The story is a creation of the company’s marketing department and has no basis in fact.
Sources:
Garber, Megan. “The Origin of the Word ‘Dongle’: 7 Leading Theories.” The Atlantic, 29 July 2013.
Oxford English Dictionary, third edition, September 2017, s.v. dongle, n.
Zimmer, Ben. “On Language: Corporate Etymologies.” New York Times Magazine, 30 April 2010.
Photo credit: Mmckinley, 2009, public domain photo.