batch

Definition from Wiktionary, a free dictionary

Contents 1 English 1.1 Pronunciation 1.2 Etymology 1 1.2.1 Noun 1.2.1.1 Synonyms 1.2.1.2 Translations 1.2.2 Verb 1.2.3 Adjective 1.2.3.1 Antonyms 1.2.3.2 Derived terms 1.2.4 References 1.3 Etymology 2 1.3.1 Verb 1.3.1.1 Usage notes

[edit] English

[edit] Pronunciation

• enPR: băch, IPA: /bætʃ/, SAMPA: /b{tS/
• Rhymes: -ætʃ

[edit] Etymology 1

From Middle English bache (or bacche) < Old English bæcce (“‘something baked’”) < bacan (“‘to bake’”). Compare German Gebäck and Dutch baksel.

[edit] Noun

batch (plural batches)

1. The quantity of bread or other baked goods baked at one time.

   We made a batch of cookies to take to the party.

2. A quantity of anything produced at one operation.

   We poured a bucket of water in top, and the ice maker spit out a batch of icecubes at the bottom.

3. A group or collection of things of the same kind, such as a batch of letters or the next batch of business.
   • A new batch of Lords. --Lady M. W. Montagu.
4. (computing) A set of data to be processed with one execution of a program.

   The system throttled itself to batches of 50 requests at a time to keep the thread count under control.

[edit] Synonyms

• (quantity of baked goods): recipe
• (anything produced in one operation): pressing, run, lot
• (group of things of the same kind): group, lot

[edit] Translations

• Spanish: lote m.

[edit] Verb

to batch (third-person singular simple present batches, present participle batching, simple past and past participle batched)

1. To aggregate things together into a batch.

   The contractor batched the purchase orders for the entire month into one statement.

2. (computing) To batch process a set of input data or requests.

   The purchase requests for the day were stored in a queue and batched for printing the next morning.

[edit] Adjective

batch (not comparable)

1. Of a process, operating for a defined set of conditions, and then halting.

   The plant had two batch assembly lines for packaging, as well as a continuous feed production line.

[edit] Antonyms

• continuous

[edit] Derived terms

• batch mode
• batch process

[edit] References

• batch in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913
• 1996, T.F. Hoad, The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Etymology, Oxford University Press, ISBN 0192830988

[edit] Etymology 2

from an abbreviation of the pronunciation of bachelor (“‘unmarried adult male’”)

[edit] Verb

to batch (third-person singular simple present batches, present participle batching, simple past and past participle batched)

1. (informal) To live as a bachelor temporarily, of a married man or someone virtually married.

   I am batching next week when my wife visits her sister.

[edit] Usage notes

• Often with it: "I usually batch it three nights a week when she calls on her out-of-town accounts."