cybernetics
English
Etymology
From Ancient Greek κυβερνήτης (kubernḗtēs, “steersman”), from κυβερνάω (kubernáō, “I steer, drive, guide, act as a pilot”). The term is attested since at least 1948 in the book Cybernetics by Norbert Wiener, influenced by the cognate term governor, an early control device proposed by James Clerk Maxwell in 1868.[1] Note also the 1830s French cybernétique (“the art of governing”).
Pronunciation
- (UK) IPA(key): /ˌsaɪ.bə(ɹ)ˈnɛ.tɪks/
Audio (UK) (file)
Noun
cybernetics (uncountable)
- The theory/science of communication and control in the animal and the machine.
- The art/study of governing, controlling automatic processes and communication.
- Technology related to computers and Internet.
Derived terms
- anthropocybernetics
- biocybernetics
- economic cybernetics
- educational cybernetics
- management cybernetics
- medical cybernetics
- neuro-cybernetics
- neuro cybernetics
- quantum cybernetics
- second order cybernetics
- technical cybernetics
Related terms
- cyber
- cyber-
- cybercafe
- cybernetic
- cybernetically
- cybernetician
- cyberneticist
- cyberpunk
- cyberspace
- cyborg
- governor
- Kubernetes
Translations
science of communication and control
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the art/study of controling
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- The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
Translations to be checked
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See also
- connectionism
- decision theory
- information theory
- systems science
References
- Norbert Wiener (1948) Cybernetics: Or Control and Communication in the Animal and the Machine, New York: John Wiley, page 19:
- We have decided to call the entire field of control and communication theory […] by the name Cybernetics, which we form from the Greek κυβερνήτης or steersman. In choosing this term, we wish to recognize that the first significant paper on feed-back mechanisms is an article on governors, which was published by Clerk Maxwell in 1868, and that governor is derived from a Latin corruption of κυβερνήτης.