input
/ˈɪnpʊt/
noun
Origin
English
in + put — in + to place
Overview
Meaning Now
- Something put into a system or expended in a process to achieve a result.
- The act or process of putting something in.
- Information or data fed into a computer or other processing system.
Literal older meaning
that which is put in
Language path
Proto-Germanic → Middle English → English
Earliest form
input
Earliest period
17th century
Journey
The term originated as a functional compound of English prepositions and verbs. Its modern technical ubiquity was solidified during the development of computing and information theory in the 1940s and 1950s, replacing older terms like 'entry' or 'data entry' in specialized technical discourse.
Evolution
- Proto-Germanic
*iną + *putjaną
“into + to place/set”
Reconstruction of Germanic roots.
- Old English
in + putian
“putting into”
Conceptual ancestor of the compound.
- 1600s
input
“resources or labor invested”
Used initially in economics and agriculture.
- Mid-20th century
input
“data fed into a computer”
Semantic broadening through cybernetics.
Connections
Word parts
in-
prefix
into
-put
root
place
Related across languages
Middle Low German
in-putten
to place into
Related words
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Related to input
External references use DefinedTerm semantics.