program

Forms

• programme (UK, except in computing)

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

Related words

• programme
• grammar
• graph
• telegram
• diagram

Usage notes

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

References

1. ^ a b 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