routine English · revision 5772

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=1676|origins=fr routine}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ruːˈtiːn/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|fr|routine|t=usual course of action, beaten path]] (16th century),^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) from [[m|fr|route|t=way, path, course]] (see [[route]]) and the noun suffix -ine.^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986) Hoad records the early spelling rotine.^(Hoad 1986)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ A regular course of procedure, a more or less mechanical performance of certain acts: before 1680 in the OED and Barnhart, in Samuel Butler's ''Remains'', and the 1670s in Etymonline,^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) while MWU dates it to 1661.^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(MWU 2024) A set form of speech is recorded in 1676.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Routine without an article, regular or mechanical procedure in general, is from 1789.^(OED 1989) The adjective, mechanical or unvaried, is from 1817,^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989) and the extended sense “ordinary, typical”, as in ''a routine check'', from about 1940.^(Barnhart 1988) The theatrical sense, a rehearsed act or sequence of steps, is from 1926,^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) and the computing sense, a set of instructions for a particular task, from 1945.^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1988) The verb, to organize by a routine, was used by George Bernard Shaw in 1897.^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1661 – first sense, in MWU.^(MWU 2024)

+ * a1680 – a regular course of procedure.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1789 – regular procedure in general.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1817 – the adjective.^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline)

+ * 1897 – the verb.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1926 – a theatrical routine.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1945 – a computer routine.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A usual or regular way of doing things, often an unvarying one.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # A rehearsed piece of [[entertainment]], such as a comedian's act or a set of [[dance]] steps.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # ''(computing)'' A [[program]] or part of one that does a particular task.^(Collins 2023)^(OED 1989)

+ # ''(informal)'' A familiar or insincere speech.^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ===Adjective===

+ # Done as part of normal [[procedure]]; regular or habitual.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # Ordinary, with nothing [[special]] about it.^(AHD)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[routinely]]

+ * [[routinism]]

+ * [[routinist]]

+ * [[routineness]]

+ * [[nonroutine]]

+ * [[routinize]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[route]]

+ * [[rout]]

+ * [[rut]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}