feedback

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈfiːd.bæk/^[1]

Etymology

It is a compound, from English feed + back, a noun from the verb with the adverb.^[2][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

In electronics, the return of a fraction of the output signal of a circuit to the input of an earlier stage: 1920.^[2][4][3]

Semantic evolution

The control of a process or system by returning part of its output as input, as in biology and cybernetics, is from 1943.^[4] Information about the results of a process or of someone's work, returned to those responsible, is attested by 1955.^[2] The howling noise of a loudspeaker whose sound is picked up again by a microphone is also called feedback.^[5][6]

Timeline

• 1920 – in electronics.^[2][4]
• 1943 – control of a system.^[4]
• 1955 – information about results.^[2]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. Comments or information about how well someone has done something, given as a guide: customer feedback.
2. The return of part of the output of a system or circuit to its input, to control or modify it.
3. A high, whistling noise made when a microphone picks up sound from its own loudspeaker.

Word family

• biofeedback
• feedback loop

Related words

• feed
• back
• input
• output

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 Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ a b Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
4. ^ a b c d Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
6. ^ Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins