architecture

Pronunciation

• IPA: UK /ˈɑː.kɪ.tek.tʃə/, US /ˈɑːr.kə.tek.tʃɚ/^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Middle French architecture, possibly influenced by Italian architettura,^[2][3] from Latin architectūra, from architectus (“master builder, chief workman”),^[3][2] from Ancient Greek ἀρχιτέκτων (arkhitéktōn, “master builder”).^[3] It is related to architect.^[3][2]

Earliest recorded meaning

The art of building, especially of fine buildings: 1555 in Barnhart, 1563 in the OED, the 1560s in Etymonline.^[2][4][3]

Semantic evolution

Buildings constructed architecturally are from 1611, the 1610s in Etymonline,^[4][3] and the process of building from 1646, now archaic.^[4] Structure in general, abstract or concrete, is from about 1590,^[4] and a particular style of building from 1703.^[4] In computing, the logical organization of a computer is from 1962.^[4]

Timeline

• 1555 – the art of building.^[2]
• c. 1590 – structure in general.^[4]
• 1611 – buildings.^[4]
• 1703 – a style of building.^[4]
• 1962 – in computing.^[4]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. The art and science of designing buildings and overseeing their construction.
2. A style of building: Gothic architecture.
3. Buildings considered together.
4. The structure or design of something: the architecture of the brain.
5. (computing) The overall design of a computer system.

Word family

• architectural
• architecturally
• architect
• architectonic

References

1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
2. ^ a b c d e Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
3. ^ a b c d e f Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press