tech

Pronunciation

• IPA: /tek/^[1]

Etymology

It is a shortening, first American,^[2][3] of technical (as in technical college),^[2][4] technician^[2][4][5] and technology.^[2][4][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

A technical college or institute: 1906, American, the earliest reference being to MIT.^[2][4]

Semantic evolution

As short for technician it is from 1942, first in military jargon.^[2][4][5] The adjective, short for technical, is colloquial, first American, from 1956,^[4] and Etymonline dates the short form of technology, of computer code and the like, by 1956.^[2] The OED has it in high-tech from 1972^[4] and as a noun for technology from 1982,^[4] while Merriam-Webster dates that sense to 1972.^[5]

Timeline

• 1906 – a technical college.^[2][4]
• 1942 – a technician.^[2][4]
• 1956 – adjective, technical.^[4]
• 1972 – high-tech.^[4]
• 1982 – technology.^[4]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. (informal) A technician: a lab tech.
2. (informal) technology, especially high technology.
3. (informal) A technical college or institute.

Word family

• vo-tech
• biotech
• sci-tech
• hi-tech
• high-tech
• low-tech

Related words

• technology
• technological
• technical
• technician
• technique

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 Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
4. ^ 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
5. ^ a b c d Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster