Etymologically
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program

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Pronunciation

  • IPA: UK /ˈprəʊ.ɡræm/, US /ˈproʊ.ɡræm/, /ˈproʊ.ɡrəm/[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Late Latin programma (“proclamation, edict”),[2][3][4] from Ancient Greek πρόγραμμα (prógramma, “a written public notice”),[2][3][5] from the stem of προγράφω (prográphō, “to write publicly, write before”),[3][5] formed from πρό (pró, “before, forth”) and γράφω (gráphō, “to write”).[2][3][4] In the early 19th century it was borrowed again from French programme, which gave the British spelling programme.[2][3][5] It is related to -gram, graph and grammar.[5][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

A public notice: 1633,[2][6][7] or the 1630s;[3] according to the OED, this use was restricted to Scotland until the early 1800s.[2][7]

Semantic evolution

A descriptive notice issued beforehand of a series of proceedings, such as a concert or play, is from 1805[3] or 1808,[7] and the spelling programme came into use in Britain at the same time, especially in this “playbill” sense.[3] A definite plan or scheme of action is from 1837,[3][7] and the objects or events suggested by a piece of music from 1854, with program music by 1877.[3] A broadcast presentation is a program from 1923.[3][7] In computing, a series of coded instructions for a machine is from 1945,[3][7] the same year as the verb “to cause a computer to do a task”.[3][7] The verb had earlier meant “to arrange according to a programme”, from 1896,[7][6] and it was extended figuratively to training animals in 1963 and people in 1966.[3]

Timeline

  • 1633 – a public notice (Scotland).[2][7]
  • 1805 – a list of items at a concert.[3]
  • 1837 – a plan of action.[3]
  • 1854 – the subject suggested by music.[3]
  • 1896 – verb, to arrange according to a programme.[7]
  • 1923 – a broadcast.[3]
  • 1945 – a computer program; verb, to program a computer.[3][7]
  • 1963 – verb, to train to behave in a set way.[3]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. A list of the order of events and other information for a public performance; the performance itself.
  2. A scheduled radio or television show.
  3. A schedule or plan of procedures to be followed.
  4. A system of services or projects meant to meet a public need.
  5. A course of study.
  6. A set of coded instructions for a computer.

Verb

  1. To include or schedule in a program.
  2. To give a computer or machine a set of instructions.
  3. To train to behave automatically in a certain way.

Word family

  • programmability
  • programmable
  • deprogram
  • microprogram
  • preprogram
  • reprogram
  • programmer
  • program music

Usage notes

Etymonline notes that the spelling programme, established in Britain, came from French in the early 19th century.[3]

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 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 p q r s t u v Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  4. ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (2000), 4th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
  5. ^ a b c d Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
  6. ^ a b Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press