SOURCE 01supportshistorical dictionary
Algorithm — Word History
Identifies the personal and geographic name behind the word family.
Arabic al-Khwārizmī- AUTHOR / EDITOR
- Merriam-Webster Editors
- YEAR
- 2026
- PUBLISHER
- Merriam-Webster
PERMANENT DISPUTE RECORD
ALL DISPUTES ↗CLAIM / COUNTERCLAIM / LIMITRECORD 30
DISPUTE
RECORD.
One scholarly question. Every attached source. The present editorial state, without pretending the last word has been written.
resolvedestablished
Does the word commemorate an abstract concept or a person?
It ultimately reflects a geographic personal name, “the Khwārizmian,” which became attached to transmitted arithmetic.
WORD UNDER REVIEWDISPUTE 30
algorithm
/ˈælɡəˌrɪðəm/ · noun
A finite or stepwise procedure, descended through medieval arithmetic vocabulary from the Latinized name of al-Khwārizmī.
01
DIRECT CLAIM EVIDENCE
1 SOURCES WITH A STANCE
A citation is not a vote. Each record says whether the work supports, challenges, contradicts, or contextualizes the position—and identifies the exact locus used.
02 / EDITORIAL STATE
THE CURRENT RECORD IS RESOLVED.
- CONFIDENCE
- established
- STATUS
- resolved
- LEGACY SOURCE SUMMARY
- Merriam-Webster; MacTutor
The reviewed evidence does not yet warrant collapsing the competing or incomplete analyses into one secure answer.