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tech

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Pronunciation

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

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