Programmed

How to spell programmed

10 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce programmed

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does programmed mean?

1. verbSet a machine, device, or system with instructions so it performs a task automatically; arranged to act or respond in a fixed way.
2. adjectiveSet up in advance to behave or respond in a predetermined manner.

Programmed in a sentence

• verb

  The engineer programmed the thermostat to lower the heating overnight.

• adjective

  The call centre relied on a set of programmed responses for common questions.

• verb

  She programmed the coffee machine to start brewing at seven each morning.

• adjective

  The toy gives the same programmed reply no matter what you ask it.

Where does programmed come from?

Language of origin: Greek

This is the past tense of the verb 'program', which traces back to the Greek programma, meaning 'a written public notice' or 'something set down in writing beforehand'. That noun was built from pro, meaning 'before', and graphein, meaning 'to write', so the literal sense was 'a thing written in advance'. It passed through Late Latin as programma and into English in the 1600s, at first describing a public notice or an agenda of events, such as a theatre or concert programme. The computing sense, a coded set of instructions, arrived in the mid twentieth century and gave the verb 'to program' its modern force; from there came 'programmed' for anything set up to behave a fixed way. The spelling trap lies in the doubled m: although 'program' ends in a single m, British and Canadian usage (and the dominant American form too) double it before the -ed ending, mirroring the older spelling 'programme'.

How the word is built

• program (from Greek programma: a written public notice)
• -ed (past tense, with the final m doubled)