1779, "complete standstill," from dead (adj.), in its emphatic use, + lock (n.1). First attested in Sheridan's play "The Critic." By 1808 as "type of lock worked on one side by a handle and the other by a key." Deadbolt as a type of lock also is from 1808.
dead-center
deaden
Deadhead
dead-lift
deadline
deadlock
deadly
dead-march
deadness
deadpan
dead-weight