algorithm

n. a well-defined procedure or set of rules that is used to solve a problem or accomplish a task or that is used for conducting a series of computations. An example is trying all the possible combinations in sequence in order to open a combination lock. Algorithms, which may be represented visually as flow charts, are essential to computer programming and information processing. The word is derived from the name of the 9th-century Arab mathematician al-Khwarizmi. Compare heuristic. See also British Museum algorithm; brute force; exhaustive search. —algorithmic adj.

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Psychology term of the day

February 25th 2025

inner estrangement

the feeling that external objects are unfamiliar and unreal. [defined by Austrian psychoanalyst Paul Federn (1871–1950)]