English
algorithm
Etymology

From Middle English algorisme, augrym, from Anglo-Norman algorisme, augrim, from Medieval Latin algorismus, from Arabic الخَوَارِزْمِيّ, the nisba of Persian mathematician Muḥammad ibn Mūsā al-Khwārizmī and a toponymic name meaning "person from Chorasmia".

Pronunciation
  • (Received Pronunciation) enPR: ălʹgə-rĭ-thəm, ălʹgə-rĭth-m, IPA: /ˈælɡəɹɪðəm/, [ˈæɫɡəɹɪðm̩]
  • (General American) enPR: ălʹgə-rĭ'thəm, ălʹgə-rĭth'm, IPA: /ˈælɡəˌɹɪðəm/, [ˈæɫɡəˌɹɪðm̩]
Noun

algorithm

  1. (countable) A collection of ordered steps that solve a mathematical problem. A precise step-by-step plan for a computational procedure that possibly begins with an input value and yields an output value in a finite number of steps.
    • 1990, Cormen, Leiserson, and Rivest, Introduction to Algorithms: page 1. Cambridge, MA, The MIT Press, 1999 (23rd printing)
      Informally, an algorithm is any well-defined computational procedure that takes some value, or set of values, as input and produces some value, or set of values, as output. An algorithm is thus a sequence of computational steps that transform the input into the output.
  2. (loosely) A flowchart illustrating a decision-making process for human users, especially health care professionals.
  3. (uncountable, obsolete) Calculation with Arabic numerals; algorism.
  4. (informal, social media, by extension, usually preceded with "the") The recommendation algorithm used by social media websites to determine the contents of one's feed.
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