Etymologically
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technology

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Pronunciation

  • IPA: UK /tekˈnɒl.ə.dʒi/, US /tekˈnɑː.lə.dʒi/[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Ancient Greek τεχνολογία (tekhnología, “systematic treatment of an art or craft”),[2][3][4] through a Latinized form,[2] originally referring to grammar,[2][3] from τέχνη (tékhnē, “art, skill, craft”) and -λογία (-logía), the source of -logy.[2][4][5] Greek tékhnē is from PIE *teks-na- “craft”, from Proto-Indo-European *teks- (“to weave, fabricate”).[2][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

A discourse or treatise on an art or the arts: 1615[6][3] or the 1610s.[2] Merriam-Webster dates it to 1658, in the sense of a field's technical terminology,[7] which the OED also records from 1658.[6]

Semantic evolution

The modern sense, the scientific study of the mechanical and industrial arts, or those arts collectively, is from 1859;[2][3][6] the Century Dictionary (1895) gives spinning, metal-working and brewing as examples.[2] A technology, a particular practical or industrial art, with a plural, is from 1957.[6] High technology is attested by 1956,[2] applied to firms and industries from 1964,[6] and the short form high-tech by 1972.[2]

Timeline

  • 1615 – a treatise on an art.[6][3]
  • 1658 – technical terminology.[6][7]
  • 1859 – the practical arts collectively.[2][6]
  • 1956 – high technology.[2]
  • 1957 – a technology, with a plural.[6]
  • 1972 – high-tech.[2]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. The application of science to practical, industrial or commercial ends.
  2. The methods, machines and materials produced in this way.
  3. The body of knowledge a society has for making tools and practising crafts.
  4. (archaic) The terminology of a particular art or subject.

Word family

  • technologist
  • agrotechnology
  • antitechnology
  • biotechnology
  • cytotechnology
  • microtechnology
  • nanotechnology
  • psychotechnology
  • technical
  • technician
  • technique
  • techno-
  • technological
  • -logy
  • text
  • texture
  • architect

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 j k l m Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  3. ^ a b c d e Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  4. ^ a b c The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (2000), 4th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
  5. ^ Soanes, Catherine; Stevenson, Angus, eds. (2004), Concise Oxford English Dictionary, 11th ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h i Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
  7. ^ a b Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster