log English · revision 5775

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: UK /lɒɡ/, US /lɑːɡ/, /lɔːɡ/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ {{homograph|1|piece of wood; record}}

+

+ {{infobox|confidence=uncertain|formation=inherited|attested=1398}}

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ The piece of wood is [[inh|enm|logge]], first recorded before 1398 in Trevisa and earlier as a surname (about 1210), and is of uncertain origin.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(SOED 2002) MWU takes it as probably Scandinavian, akin to Norwegian låg “fallen tree” and [[non|lāg]], from the stem of [[m|non|liggja|t=to lie]];^(MWU 2024) the OED and many etymologists reject this on phonological grounds, and the OED suggests a formation meant to express something massive by its sound, comparing [[clog]].^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ A bulky mass of wood, an unhewn part of a felled tree: 1398 in the OED.^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ A wooden float on a line, used to measure a ship's speed, is from 1574;^(Barnhart 1988) the speed was read from knots tied along the line, which is why [[knot]] became a nautical measure.^(Etymonline)^(Cresswell 2021) The daily record of these readings was the logbook (1670s), and sailors shortened it to log in 1842 (1825 in Barnhart).^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) Any record of facts entered in order is by 1913.^(Etymonline) The verb meant to cut trees into logs from the 1690s and to fell trees for timber from 1717;^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989) to enter in a log is from 1823, and to reach a speed or distance as noted in a log from 1883.^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) ''Log in'' to a computer system is by 1963.^(Etymonline) ''Log cabin'' is from 1770, and ''falling off a log'', something easy, from 1839.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1398 – a mass of wood.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1574 – the float measuring a ship's speed.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1670s – ''logbook''.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1717 – to fell trees.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1770 – ''log cabin''.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1823 – to record in a log.^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1842 – a log, the record.^(Etymonline)

+ * by 1963 – to log in, in computing.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A section of the [[trunk]] or a large [[branch]] of a felled [[tree]].^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # A device trailed from a ship to measure its speed.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # A record of a ship's or aircraft's voyage; any regular record of events.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ===Verb===

+ # To fell trees, or cut timber into logs.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # To enter in a [[record]].^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # To travel, reach or build up a distance, speed or time: ''to log a hundred hours''.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # ''(log in, log on, log off)'' To start or end a session on a [[computer]] system.^(Collins 2023)^(Etymonline)

+

+ {{homograph|2|logarithm}}

+

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=clipping|attested=1631}}

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ The mathematical log is an abbreviation of [[logarithm]].^(OED 1989)^(Hoad 1986)^(SOED 2002)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ A logarithm, or logarithmic: 1631 in the OED and MWU.^(OED 1989)^(MWU 2024)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Log-log, the logarithm of a logarithm, and log-log paper with logarithmic scales on both axes, are from the 20th century, 1910 in the OED.^(OED 1989)^(SOED 2002)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1631 – log, logarithm.^(OED 1989)^(MWU 2024)

+ * 1910 – log-log.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A [[logarithm]].^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[logbook]]

+ * [[blog]]

+ * [[logger]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ Log was also the name of a Hebrew liquid measure, a twelfth of a hin, from 1530 in the OED.^(OED 1989) In Devon and Cornwall dialect, log means to rock to and fro, as in a logging stone.^(Wright 1898)^(SOED 2002)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}