In the professional computer technical fields, most terms are established as a technology is introduced. The tech communities generally agree formal terminology definitions early to make new technologies distinct and to minimize confusion. Thus, magnetic hard disk drives were first commercially marketed in the mid-1950's (24-inch!) and disk drive distinguished them from drum and other magnetic storage technologies. When optical storage was introduced it used the term disc to distinguish itself from magnetic disk drives.
The OED tries to keep up with this, but I wouldn't expect them to be an authoritative source for technical terminologies, except retrospectively. Thank you, Mark Snyder -----Original Message----- I believe the authoritative text on the English language is still the O.E.D.(The Oxford English Dictionary.) Have you queried the unabridged version of that source? Regrettably, I have no access. ************************************************************************* ** List info, subscription management, list rules, archives, privacy ** ** policy, calmness, a member map, and more at http://www.cguys.org/ ** *************************************************************************
