Etymologically
Log in

programmable

History Permalink

Etymology and origin of the English word programmable

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
1953 Journal of Finance More words from the 20th century
Ultimate origin
Ancient Greek πρόγραμμα
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Ancient Greek γράφω (gráphō)
Ancient Greek προγράφω (prográphō)
Ancient Greek πρόγραμμα (prógramma)
French programme
Latin programma
English program
English programmable
German Programm
Italian programma
Spanish programa
The word's journey
From the same root
Ancient Greek γράμμα (grámma) ← γράφω
Ancient Greek γραφεῖον (grapheîon) ← γράφω
Ancient Greek γραφή (graphḗ) ← γράφω
English programmer ← programma

Pronunciation

  • UK: /pɹəʊˈɡɹæməbəl/[1]

Etymology

It is formed from English program + -able.[2][3][4] The OED enters the verb under the British spelling programme.[3] The noun program goes back through French and Late Latin to Ancient Greek πρόγραμμα (prógramma, “a written public notice”).[1][2]

Earliest recorded meaning

Capable of being scheduled according to a programme of events, and of an apparatus, capable of being programmed: both in 1953, in the Journal of Finance and the Journal of Symbolic Logic.[3] Merriam-Webster Unabridged also gives 1953,[5] while Etymonline dates the word to 1959,[2] and Dictionary.com to 1955–60.[4]

Semantic evolution

The adjective followed the computing sense of the verb program, "to cause to be automatically regulated in a prescribed way", which Etymonline dates to 1945.[2] The OED's two senses of 1953 are a programme of events and the programming of an apparatus;[3] the latter also came to describe a control that the user can assign a function to.[3] Used as a noun, short for programmable calculator or programmable computer, it is recorded from 1964, in an advertisement in The Times.[3][5]

Timeline

  • 1953 – capable of being scheduled according to a programme; of an apparatus, capable of being programmed.[3][5] Etymonline dates the word to 1959.[2]
  • 1964 – noun, a programmable calculator or handheld computer.[3][5]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. Of a device or operation, able to be programmed to work automatically or to carry out a set of instructions: a programmable thermostat.[6][5][3]
  2. Of a control, able to be given a function chosen by the user.[3]
  3. Able to be scheduled according to a programme of events.[3]

Noun

  1. A programmable calculator or handheld computer.[5][3]

Word family

  • programmability
  • nonprogrammable
  • unprogrammable

Usage notes

Collins and Merriam-Webster Unabridged also record the less common spelling programable.[6][5]

References

  1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  4. ^ a b Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
  5. ^ a b c d e f g Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  6. ^ a b Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
Cite this entry

“Programmable.” Etymologically, 8 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/en/programmable. Accessed 9 Nov. 2026.

Last edited on . ·