English Explanatory Dictionary

cybernetics

English dictionary entry

Meanings

noun
  1. The theory/science of communication and control in living organisms or machines.
  2. The art/study of governing, controlling automatic processes and communication.
  3. Technology related to computers and the Internet.

Pronunciation

/ˌsaɪ.bə(ɹ)ˈnɛ.tɪks/ LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-cybernetics.wav

Word forms

cybernetics

Etymology

From Ancient Greek κυβερνήτης (kubernḗtēs, “steersman”), from κυβερνάω (kubernáō, “to steer, drive, guide, act as a pilot”) (whence English govern). The term is attested since at least 1948 in the book Cybernetics by Norbert Wiener, influenced by the cognate term and doublet governor, the name of an early control device proposed by James Clerk Maxwell in 1868. Note also the 1830s French cybernétique (“the art of governing”). Also doublet of Kubernetes.

Synonyms

control theory

Related words

cyber cyber- cybercafe cybernetic cybernetically cybernetician cyberneticist cyberpunk cyberspace cyborg governance governor Kubernetes connectionism decision theory information theory systems science

Derived words

anthropocybernetics biocybernetics management cybernetics neuro cybernetics neurocybernetics neuro-cybernetics quantum cybernetics second order cybernetics sociocybernetics technical cybernetics
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