architecture
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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
- The art and science of designing buildings and overseeing their construction.
- A style of building: Gothic architecture.
- Buildings considered together.
- The structure or design of something: the architecture of the brain.
- (computing) The overall design of a computer system.
Word family
- architectural
- architecturally
- architect
- architectonic
References
- ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
- ^ a b c d e Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
- ^ a b c d e f Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
- ^ 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