technology
English
Etymology
Borrowed from Ancient Greek τεχνολογία (tekhnología, “systematic treatment (of grammar)”), from τέχνη (tékhnē, “art”) + -λογία (-logía, “study”). Synchronically analysable as techno- + -logy.
Pronunciation
- (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /tɛkˈnɒləd͡ʒi/
Audio (RP) (file) - (General American) IPA(key): /tɛkˈnɑləd͡ʒi/
- Rhymes: -ɒləd͡ʒi
Noun
technology (countable and uncountable, plural technologies)
- (uncountable) The study of or a collection of techniques.
- 2013 June 21, Chico Harlan, “Japan pockets the subsidy …”, in The Guardian Weekly, volume 189, number 2, page 30:
- Across Japan, technology companies and private investors are racing to install devices that until recently they had little interest in: solar panels. Massive solar parks are popping up as part of a rapid build-up that one developer likened to an "explosion."
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- All the different and usable technologies developed by a culture or people.
- (countable) Any useful skill or mechanism that was developed or invented.
- 2012, Caspar Henderson, The Book of Barely Imagined Beings, page 317:
- Comb jellies lack the most impressive 'technology' of jellyfish - the nematocyst stinging apparatus which is one of the most deadly weapons and fastest cellular processes in nature.
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- (archaic) A discourse or treatise on the arts.
Usage notes
- Adjectives often applied to "technology": assistive, automotive, biological, chemical, domestic, educational, environmental, geospatial, industrial, instructional, medical, microbial, military, nuclear, visual, advanced, sophisticated, high, modern, outdated, obsolete, simple, complex, medieval, ancient, safe, secure, effective, efficient, mechanical, electrical, electronic, emerging, alternative, appropriate, clean, disruptive.
- In some milieus and contexts, the word "technology" is understood to be limited to digital communications and computing technology, e.g. "technology companies were overvalued during the dotcom bubble."
Derived terms
- chief technology officer
- tech
- techno
- techno geek
- technology transfer
Related terms
- technical
- technician
- technique
- techno-
- technological
Descendants
- → Japanese: テクノロジー (tekunorojī)
Translations
the study of or a collection of techniques
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a particular technological concept
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body of tools
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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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Further reading
- technology at OneLook Dictionary Search
- technology in Keywords for Today: A 21st Century Vocabulary, edited by The Keywords Project, Colin MacCabe, Holly Yanacek, 2018.
- "technology" in Raymond Williams, Keywords (revised), 1983, Fontana Press, page 315.
- technology in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913
- technology in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911
- technology, technique, art, method, machinery, machines, devices at Google Ngram Viewer
- technological, technical at Google Ngram Viewer