algorithm
Pluralalgorithms
- 1A precise, step-by-step procedure for solving a problem or reaching a decision, especially in mathematics or computing; in medicine it is often set out as a flowchart.
Euclid's algorithm finds the greatest common divisor of two whole numbers.
Computer scientists compare sorting algorithms by how fast they run on large inputs.
UsageUsually an algorithm for a task: an algorithm for sorting names.
Note
A standard textbook definition, in Cormen, Leiserson and Rivest's Introduction to Algorithms (1990), frames it as a well-defined procedure turning input into output. It is countable (an algorithm, sorting algorithms), and by 2013 The Guardian Weekly was asking how algorithms rule the world.
- 2Informal, usually 'the algorithm': the software on a social media or streaming platform that decides which content each user sees, and so shapes what goes viral and trends.
Creators tweak their posting schedules and hashtags to please the algorithm.
When the platform changed the algorithm, news pages suddenly reached far fewer readers.
UsageUsers also say my algorithm for their own personalized feed: my algorithm knows me.
Note
Creators and users say "the algorithm" with the definite article, as if one program decided everything a platform shows. The name of a procedure stands for the whole ranking system, a metonymy that makes the software sound like an institution.
- 3Calculation performed with Arabic numerals rather than older systems; also known as algorism.
Note
The meaning that shows where the word came from. Medieval Latin algorismus came into English through Anglo-Norman algorisme, from Arabic al-ḵawārizmiyy, "the one from Khwarazm," a Persian place name.
Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 4 facts
- The historical calculation sense belongs to the word’s origin. gutenberg.org
- English received the word through Anglo-Norman algorisme from Medieval Latin algorismus, ultimately from Arabic al-ḵawārizmiyy. en.wiktionary.org
- The Arabic name means someone from Khwarazm, also called Chorasmia. en.wiktionary.org
- Khwarazm is a Persian place name. en.wiktionary.org
Practice
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Origin
From Middle English algorisme, via Anglo-Norman algorisme and Medieval Latin algorismus, from Arabic al-ḵawārizmiyy, the nisba of the Persian mathematician Muḥammad ibn Mūsā al-Khwārizmī, a toponymic name meaning 'person from Chorasmia'. The spelling change from -s- to -th- was influenced by the unrelated Ancient Greek word ἀριθμός (arithmós), source of English arithmo-.
Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 4 facts
- The word descends from Middle English algorisme through Anglo-Norman algorisme and Medieval Latin algorismus. en.wiktionary.org
- Latin algorismus derives from Arabic al-ḵawārizmiyy, the nisba of the Persian mathematician Muhammad ibn Musa al-Khwarizmi. en.wiktionary.org
- The name is toponymic and means a person from Chorasmia. en.wiktionary.org
- The spelling change from -s- to -th- reflects influence from the unrelated Ancient Greek arithmos, which also supplies English arithmo-. en.wiktionary.org