process

Pronunciation

• IPA: UK /ˈprəʊ.ses/, US /ˈprɑː.ses/^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English proces, borrowed from Old French proces (“journey; development; legal trial”),^[2][3][4] and directly from Latin prōcessus (“a going forward, advance, progress”),^[2][3] from the past participle stem of prōcēdere (“to go forward”),^[2][3][5] the source of proceed.^[3][6] The verb “to sue” is from Middle French processer (“to prosecute”).^[3][2][7]

Earliest recorded meaning

The fact of going on or being carried on, as in the phrase in process: about 1330^[8] or the early 14th century.^[2] Barnhart finds the sense “content of a discourse, subject matter” before 1338, in Mannyng's Chronicle.^[3]

Semantic evolution

Lapse of time (in process of time) is recorded from about 1340,^[8] and something that goes on, a continuous action or series of actions, from 1340.^[8][2] The legal sense, the whole course of proceedings in a suit, is from the early 14th century^[2] or about 1350,^[3] and a summons or writ is a process from 1423.^[9] A projection, especially a natural outgrowth of a bone, is from 1565.^[9][2] The main modern sense, a regular series of actions meant to bring about a result, is from the 1620s,^[2] or 1627 in Barnhart.^[3] The verb meant “to begin legal action against” from 1532,^[3][8] and “to treat by a special process” from 1881^[2] or 1884,^[8][3] later used of food and of data.^[4] Of persons, “to register and examine”, it is from 1935, in the US Army.^[2][8]

Timeline

• c. 1330 – the fact of going on.^[8]
• before 1338 – the content of a discourse (Mannyng).^[3]
• c. 1340 – the course of time.^[8]
• 1340 – a continuous series of actions.^[8]
• c. 1350 – legal proceedings.^[3]
• 1423 – a summons or writ.^[9]
• 1532 – verb, to sue.^[3][8]
• 1565 – a projection of a bone.^[9]
• 1627 – a series of steps toward a result.^[3]
• 1884 – verb, to treat by a process.^[8][3]
• 1935 – verb, to process a person.^[8]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. A series of actions, changes or functions that bring about a result.
2. A series of operations used in making or treating a product.
3. Progress or course: in process of time.
4. (law) The whole course of a judicial proceeding; a summons or writ.
5. (biology) A natural outgrowth or projection, as on a bone.

Verb

1. To put through a set procedure.
2. To prepare, treat or convert by a special process: processed food.
3. To perform operations on data.
4. (law) To serve with a summons, or to prosecute.

Word family

• bioprocess
• overprocess
• preprocess
• processable
• processible
• reprocess

Related words

• proceed
• procedure
• procession
• processor
• due process
• cede

Usage notes

The American Heritage Dictionary notes a recent tendency to pronounce the plural processes with a final “-eez”, as if the word were Greek like analysis, which has no etymological justification.^[10] A separate verb process, stressed on the second syllable, “to go in procession”, is a colloquial back-formation from procession recorded from 1814.^[2][8][7]

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 i j k l Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
4. ^ a b Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (2000), 4th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
6. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
7. ^ a b Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
8. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
9. ^ a b c d Kay, Christian; Roberts, Jane; Samuels, Michael; Wotherspoon, Irené, eds. (2009), Historical Thesaurus of the Oxford English Dictionary, Oxford: Oxford University Press; online edition (2024)
10. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin