log

Pronunciation

• IPA: UK /lɒɡ/, US /lɑːɡ/, /lɔːɡ/^[1]

log¹ piece of wood; record

Etymology

The piece of wood is inherited from Middle English logge, first recorded before 1398 in Trevisa and earlier as a surname (about 1210), and is of uncertain origin.^[2][3][4] MWU takes it as probably Scandinavian, akin to Norwegian låg “fallen tree” and Old Norse lāg, from the stem of liggja (“to lie”);^[5] the OED and many etymologists reject this on phonological grounds, and the OED suggests a formation meant to express something massive by its sound, comparing clog.^[3][2]

Earliest recorded meaning

A bulky mass of wood, an unhewn part of a felled tree: 1398 in the OED.^[6][2]

Semantic evolution

A wooden float on a line, used to measure a ship's speed, is from 1574;^[2] the speed was read from knots tied along the line, which is why knot became a nautical measure.^[3][7] The daily record of these readings was the logbook (1670s), and sailors shortened it to log in 1842 (1825 in Barnhart).^[3][2] Any record of facts entered in order is by 1913.^[3] The verb meant to cut trees into logs from the 1690s and to fell trees for timber from 1717;^[3][6] to enter in a log is from 1823, and to reach a speed or distance as noted in a log from 1883.^[3][2] Log in to a computer system is by 1963.^[3] Log cabin is from 1770, and falling off a log, something easy, from 1839.^[3]

Timeline

• 1398 – a mass of wood.^[6]
• 1574 – the float measuring a ship's speed.^[2]
• 1670s – logbook.^[3]
• 1717 – to fell trees.^[3]
• 1770 – log cabin.^[3]
• 1823 – to record in a log.^[3][2]
• 1842 – a log, the record.^[3]
• by 1963 – to log in, in computing.^[3]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. A section of the trunk or a large branch of a felled tree.
2. A device trailed from a ship to measure its speed.
3. A record of a ship's or aircraft's voyage; any regular record of events.

Verb

1. To fell trees, or cut timber into logs.
2. To enter in a record.
3. To travel, reach or build up a distance, speed or time: to log a hundred hours.
4. (log in, log on, log off) To start or end a session on a computer system.

log² logarithm

Etymology

The mathematical log is an abbreviation of logarithm.^[6][8][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

A logarithm, or logarithmic: 1631 in the OED and MWU.^[6][5]

Semantic evolution

Log-log, the logarithm of a logarithm, and log-log paper with logarithmic scales on both axes, are from the 20th century, 1910 in the OED.^[6][4]

Timeline

• 1631 – log, logarithm.^[6][5]
• 1910 – log-log.^[6]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. A logarithm.

Related words

• logbook
• blog
• logger

Usage notes

Log was also the name of a Hebrew liquid measure, a twelfth of a hin, from 1530 in the OED.^[6] In Devon and Cornwall dialect, log means to rock to and fro, as in a logging stone.^[9][4]

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 f g h Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b c d Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. ^ a b c Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ Cresswell, Julia (2021), Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
8. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
9. ^ Wright, Joseph, ed. (1898–1905), The English Dialect Dictionary, 6 vols., Oxford: Henry Frowde; via EDD Online 4.0, University of Innsbruck (CC BY 4.0)