programmed

1. 1
   verb

   Simple past and past participle of program.

   The engineers programmed the spacecraft to land without any human input.

   He has programmed dozens of apps for small local businesses.

   Note

   One spelling serves two verbs. Whether a writer's base form is program or programme, the past tense and participle are both programmed, with the m doubled. The verb covers coding software, loading instructions into a device, and drawing up an event's schedule or a broadcast lineup. In its figurative use it takes an object plus a to-infinitive, as in a dog programmed to flinch at raised voices.

2. 2
   verb

   Simple past and past participle of programme.

   The broadcaster programmed back-to-back documentaries throughout the holiday week.

   They had programmed the festival's full lineup before tickets went on sale.

   Note

   Programme is the British standard spelling of the verb. As a noun it is also standard in New Zealand and India. The spelling difference shows only in the base form, since it shares its past forms with the American verb. Computing is the exception: even in British use, a computer program spelled programme is rare. A British writer who plans a programme will usually still program a computer.

3. 3
   adjective

   Of a religious meeting, having a minister or pastor who conducts the worship service.

   The congregation favors a programmed meeting, with a pastor guiding the worship.

   Most Friends churches in the Midwest hold programmed services led by a pastor.

   Oppositeunprogrammed

   Note

   A Quaker term that takes its meaning from its opposite. Friends distinguish programmed worship, led by a pastor with prepared elements such as a sermon and hymns, from unprogrammed meetings, which gather in expectant silence with no one leading. The adjective is not comparable: a meeting is either programmed or it is not. It usually comes before words like meeting, worship or Friends church.

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