algorithm

English

Alternative forms

• algorism (obsolete)
• augrim (obsolete)

Etymology

From Middle English algorisme, augrym, from Anglo-Norman algorisme, augrim, from Medieval Latin algorismus, from Arabic الخَوَارِزْمِيّ‎ (al-ḵawārizmiyy), the nisba of Persian mathematician Muḥammad ibn Mūsā al-Khwārizmī and a toponymic name meaning "person from Chorasmia". The spelling change (-s- > -th-) was influenced by unrelated Ancient Greek ἀριθμός (arithmós) (whence English arithmo-) .

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) enPR: ălʹgə-rĭ-thəm, ălʹgə-rĭth-m, IPA^(key): /ˈælɡəɹɪðəm/, [ˈæɫɡəɹɪðm̩]
• (General American) enPR: ălʹgə-rĭ'thəm, ălʹgə-rĭth'm, IPA^(key): /ˈælɡəˌɹɪðəm/, [ˈæɫɡəˌɹɪðm̩]

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Hyphenation UK: al‧gorithm, US: al‧go‧rithm

Noun

algorithm (countable and uncountable, plural algorithms)

1. (countable) A collection of ordered steps that solve a mathematical problem. A precise step-by-step plan for a computational procedure that possibly begins with an input value and yields an output value in a finite number of steps.
   • 1990, Cormen, Leiserson, and Rivest, Introduction to Algorithms: page 1. Cambridge, MA, The MIT Press, 1999 (23rd printing)

     Informally, an algorithm is any well-defined computational procedure that takes some value, or set of values, as input and produces some value, or set of values, as output. An algorithm is thus a sequence of computational steps that transform the input into the output.

   • 2010, Aaron Sorkin, The Social Network:

     Mark Zuckerberg: No, I need the algorithm you used to rank chess players. / Eduardo Saverin: Are you OK? / Mark Zuckerberg: We're ranking girls.

   • 2013 July 26, Leo Hickman, “How algorithms rule the world”, in The Guardian Weekly‎^[1], volume 189, number 7, page 26:

     The use of algorithms in policing is one example of their increasing influence on our lives. And, as their ubiquity spreads, so too does the debate around whether we should allow ourselves to become so reliant on them – and who, if anyone, is policing their use.

   • 2018 February 26, Tad Friend, quoting Donald Glover, “Donald Glover Can’t Save You”, in The New Yorker‎^[2]:

     (Glover began his acceptance speech by saying, “First, I want to thank the algorithm that put us all here.”)

   • 2018 June 25, Sam Jones, “Ex-Nato chief refused visa waiver to US because of Iran trips”, in The Guardian:

     It’s a computer – an algorithm – and if you’ve been in Iran lately, they take you out of the system.

2. (uncountable, obsolete) Calculation with Arabic numerals; algorism.

Hyponyms

• approximation algorithm
• Baum-Welch algorithm
• Bellman-Ford algorithm
• Bresenham's algorithm
• British Museum algorithm
• Buchberger's algorithm
• checksum algorithm
• classification algorithm
• Cohen-Sutherland algorithm
• compression algorithm
• computer arithmetic algorithm
• Cooley-Tukey algorithm
• Davis-Putnam algorithm
• diamond-square algorithm
• Dijkstra's algorithm
• distributed algorithm
• divide and conquer algorithm
• Douglas-Peucker algorithm
• Eppstein's algorithm
• Euclidean algorithm
• Euclid's algorithm
• extended Euclidean algorithm
• Fiduccia-Mattheyses algorithm
• Flajolet-Martin algorithm
• Floyd-Warshall algorithm
• forward-backward algorithm
• genetic algorithm
• Gibbs algorithm
• God's algorithm
• Gosper's algorithm
• greedy algorithm
• Grover's algorithm
• hash algorithm
• Hopcroft's algorithm
• Johnson's algorithm
• Kadane's algorithm
• Kahan summation algorithm
• Karatsuba algorithm
• Kernighan-Lin algorithm
• Knuth-Bendix completion algorithm
• Knuth-Morris-Pratt algorithm
• Kociemba's algorithm
• Korf's algorithm
• Lanczos algorithm
• Las Vegas algorithm
• Lee algorithm
• Luhn algorithm
• memetic algorithm
• Metropolis-Hastings algorithm
• Nagle's algorithm
• painter's algorithm
• parallel algorithm
• Peterson's algorithm
• Pollard's rho algorithm
• Quine-McCluskey algorithm
• Ramer-Douglas-Peucker algorithm
• randomized algorithm
• Reingold-Tilford algorithm
• Remez algorithm
• Rete algorithm
• Sattolo's algorithm
• Schensted algorithm
• Schönhage-Strassen algorithm
• semi-algorithm
• sequential algorithm
• Shor's algorithm
• shunting-yard algorithm
• SMAWK algorithm
• spigot algorithm
• Strassen algorithm
• Suurballe's algorithm
• Thistlethwaite's algorithm
• Toom-Cook algorithm
• Viterbi algorithm
• wake-sleep algorithm
• Warnock algorithm
• Warnock's algorithm
• ziggurat algorithm

 

Related terms

Related terms

• algorithmic
• algorithmically
• algorithmics
• algorithmization
• algorithmize
• algorithmophile
• algorithmophobe
• algebra
• algorism
• algorist

Descendants

• → Japanese: アルゴリズム
• → Korean: 알고리즘 (algorijeum)

Translations

well-defined procedure

• Albanian: algoritëm m
• Arabic: خُوَارِزْمِيَّة‎ f (ḵuwārizmiyya)
• Aragonese: algorismo m
• Aramaic:

  Syriac: ܚܘܪܙܐ‎ m

• Armenian: ալգորիթմ (hy) (algoritʿm)
• Asturian: algoritmu m
• Azerbaijani: alqoritm (az)
• Belarusian: алгары́тм m (alharýtm), альгары́тм m (alʹharýtm)
• Bengali: অ্যালগোরিদম (êlgoridôm)
• Breton: algoritm (br) m, treol (br) m
• Bulgarian: алгори́тъм (bg) m (algorítǎm)
• Catalan: algorisme (ca) m
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 算法 (zh) (suànfǎ), 演算法 (yǎnsuànfǎ)

• Czech: algoritmus (cs) m
• Danish: algoritme (da) c
• Dutch: algoritme (nl) n
• Esperanto: algoritmo (eo)
• Estonian: algoritm (et)
• Finnish: algoritmi (fi)
• French: algorithme (fr) m
• Galician: algoritmo (gl) m
• Georgian: ალგორითმი (ka) (algoritmi)
• German: Algorithmus (de) m
• Greek: αλγόριθμος (el) m (algórithmos)
• Hebrew: אַלגוֹרִיתְם‎ (he) m (algorítem)
• Hindi: अल्गोरिद्म (algoridma)
• Hungarian: algoritmus (hu)
• Icelandic: reiknirit n, algrím n, reiknisögn f, algóriþmi m
• Ido: algoritmo (io)
• Indonesian: algoritme (id)
• Interlingua: algorithmo
• Italian: algoritmo (it) m
• Japanese: アルゴリズム (ja) (arugorizumu), 演算手順 (えんざんてじゅん, enzantejun), 算法 (さんぽう, sanpō) (archaic)
• Kazakh: алгоритм (kk) (algoritm)
• Korean: 알고리즘 (ko) (algorijeum), 알고리듬 (ko) (algorideum), 산법(算法) (sanbeop)
• Kyrgyz: алгоритм (algoritm)
• Lao: ຂັ້ນຕອນວິທີ (lo) (khan tǭn wi thī)
• Latin: algorithmus m
• Latvian: algoritms m
• Lithuanian: algoritmas (lt) m
• Macedonian: алгори́там m (algorítam)
• Malay: algoritma, alkhwarizmi
• Maori: hātepe, hātepe papatono
• Mirandese: algoritmo m
• Mongolian:

  Cyrillic: алгоритм (mn) (algoritm)

• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: algoritme (no) m

• Occitan: algoritme (oc) m
• Persian: الگوریتم‎ (fa) (algoritm)
• Polish: algorytm (pl) m
• Portuguese: algoritmo (pt) m
• Romanian: algoritm (ro) m
• Russian: алгори́тм (ru) m (algorítm)
• Scots: algorithm
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: алгорѝтам m

  Roman: algorìtam m

• Slovak: algoritmus m
• Slovene: algoritem m
• Spanish: algoritmo (es) m
• Swedish: algoritm (sv) c
• Tagalog: algorítmo
• Tajik: алгоритм (tg) (algoritm)
• Thai: อัลกอริทึม (an-gɔɔ-rí-tʉ̂m), ขั้นตอนวิธี (kân-dtɔɔn-wí-tii)
• Turkish: algoritma (tr)
• Turkmen: algoritm
• Ukrainian: алгори́тм (uk) m (alhorýtm)
• Uzbek: algoritm (uz)
• Vietnamese: thuật toán (vi)
• Yiddish: אַלגאָריטם‎ m (algoritm)

See also

• data structure
• function
• program

Anagrams

• logarithm, mithralog