clipboard

Etymology

It is a compound from English clip + board.^[2][3][4][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

A small board with a clip at the top for holding papers: 1873, in the journal of the Illinois House of Representatives.^[2] Merriam-Webster gives 1885,^[4] Etymonline 1904,^[3] and Dictionary.com dates it to 1905–10 and labels it an Americanism.^[5]

Semantic evolution

In 1983 the word was taken into computing for the place where a program or operating system keeps data that has been cut or copied, so that it can be pasted elsewhere.^[2][4]

Timeline

• 1873 – a board with a clip for holding papers.^[2]
• 1983 – a temporary store for data cut or copied (computing).^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. A small, stiff board with a spring clip at the top for holding sheets of paper, used as a portable writing surface.^[4][2]
2. (computing) A part of a computer's memory where text or images that have been cut or copied are held until they are pasted elsewhere.^[4][2]

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b c d e Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
5. ^ a b Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House