Techn.1
/tɛk/, U.S. /tɛk/ colloquial (originally U.S.).
An educational institution specializing in technology or applied sciences, esp. engineering; a technical college, technical school, or institute of technology; (also) a course of study at such an institution.Frequently in the shortened form of the names of such colleges.
ΘΚΠ
society > education > place of education > college or university > [noun] > college > technical college
school1815
technical college1824
polytechnic1836
poly1858
Tech1881
Polytech1900
technicum1924
monotechnic1931
Open Tech1980
1881 (title) The Tech [student newspaper of the Massachusets Institute of Technology].
1884 New Eng. Mag. Apr. 254/2 We find the ‘Tech’ Glee Club practising.
1891 Fitchburg (Mass.) Daily Sentinel 29 Aug. 7/2 The tools and machinery..were offered..to the trustees of the Tech. to be worked in the shops there.
1915 E. Wallace Man who bought London viii. 79 ‘I'm off to the “Tec”,’ he said.
1947 Book (Christchurch, N.Z.) 9 32 I told him no, I'd have to finish Tech, I wanted to get matric.
1980 R. McCrum In Secret State x. 86 Rosie's pride would not let her admit that she..had been to the local Tech.
2006 Sports Illustr. 7 Jan. 10 Young has..been the most kinetic quarterbacking presence in college football since Michael Vick ran wild at Virginia Tech.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2009; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
techn.2
/tɛk/, U.S. /tɛk/ colloquial (originally and chiefly U.S.).
= technician n. 2.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > worker > workers according to type of work > manual or industrial worker > [noun] > technician
technician1855
tech1953
technologist1966
techie1970
1953 Mag. Fantasy & Sci. Fiction Nov. 30 Let the techs worry about that.
1976 Amer. Speech 1973 48 194 They used to be called orderlies. Today, however, many of these assistants demand the title of nursing tech or emergency room tech.
1987 P. McCabe Bad News at Black Rock vi. 120 Two techs were arguing about the audio levels.
2001 J. Deaver Blue Nowhere i. v. 56 The bartender remembered that the perp wrapped his beer bottle in a napkin and one of the techs found it in the trash.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2009; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
techn.3
/tɛk/, U.S. /tɛk/ Originally U.S.
In early use attributive: designating music incorporating sounds generated or modified electronically, esp. using synthesizers. In later use: = techno n., chiefly in compounds, as tech-house, tech-soul, jungle-tech, etc., denoting a type of music which combines elements of techno and another style. Cf. techno- comb. form 3.
ΚΠ
1982 Washington Post 1 Jan. (Weekend section) 29/1 Tech rock pulses like a quasar. Sometimes there is classical or jazz.
1985 Los Angeles Sentinel 24 Jan. (Dawn Mag.) 15/3 ‘Beat Freak’..is a tech-funk street jam.
1992 Face May 12 Kitted out with cyberspunky videos and decent tech-soul tunes.
1995 DJ 6 July 45/1 Music for the neo-geo generation, beats full of psychobabble and trad tech sounds.
1997 DJ 30 Aug. 59/2 Sigma's record is harder edged tech-house.
2001 Village Voice (N.Y.) 18 Dec. 90/3 Criterion mulches together dub, minimal tech, and hints of d'n'b.
2007 Guardian 27 Jan. (Guide Suppl.) Central Listings 22/1 Techno, jungle-tech, breakcore, drum'n'bass and mashup courtesy of DJs Subkulture, Vyper, Scrampy.
This is a new entry (OED Third Edition, March 2010; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
techn.4
/tɛk/, U.S. /tɛk/ Technology. Chiefly attributive and in compounds. Cf. high-tech adj. and n., low-tech adj.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > [noun] > regular occupation, trade, or profession > technology
technology1829
tech1982
1982 Times 6 May 17/6 (heading) Whitehall backs new tech firms.
1983 New Scientist 16 June 769/3 (advt.) Signaal, Philips space-tech company, has developed a meteorological ground station.
1990 Creative Rev. Mar. 52 (caption) This proposed identity for Central Saint Martin's uses old and new tech.
2004 BusinessWeek 1 Mar. 94/2 The same tech boom that spawned offshoring also created multibillion-dollar Internet markets.
Compounds
tech wreck n. Business colloquial (originally U.S.) a collapse in the price of shares in high-technology industries; cf. crash n.1 2b, dot-bomb n.
ΚΠ
1989 N.Y. Times 12 Dec. d10/2 The market endured a ‘tech wreck’ led by I.B.M., which touched its lowest level since 1982.
2002 Austral. Financial Rev. (Sydney) 21 Jan. 39/1 The year 2000 may have been dubbed the year of the tech wreck, but half of the collective value of the top ASX-listed technology and internet stocks looks to have marched out the door in 2001.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2009; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
techadj.
/tɛk/, U.S. /tɛk/ colloquial (originally U.S.).
= technical adj. (in various senses).In some cases not easily distinguishable from attributive uses of tech n.4With quot. 1942 cf. technical sergeant n. at technical adj. and n. Compounds.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > [adjective] > relating to technology
technologic1817
technological1924
tech1942
whizz-bang1966
high-tech1967
low-tech1967
1942 Yank (N.Y. ed.) 21 Oct. 15/1 If they've been raised to master sergeant, how come most of the toppers are still wearing the same kind of tech chevrons with the diamond?
1956 ‘E. McBain’ Cop Hater xix. 140 The tech crew dusted the latent fingerprints.
1974 Globe & Mail (Toronto) 20 Feb. 34/9 Will Genge aim at the championship aside from his duties as tech supervisor?
1989 Cycle Oct. 21/3 There's a 10-page parts book and a tech manual on setting the exhaust valves and the servomotor.
1991 Air Transport World (Nexis) Nov. 68 The number of tech employees per aircraft has been cut from 42 to 32, including tech people providing station services such as de-icing and pushbacks.
1996 E. Perkins Not her Real Name 156 Warren's a tech drawing teacher at the local high school.
2001 S. King Dreamcatcher xii. 397 Brodsky is an Army Tech Sergeant, a motor-pool munchkin.
Compounds
techspeak n. technical jargon, esp. in computing; cf. technospeak n. at techno- comb. form 2a.
ΚΠ
1982 80 Microcomputing Feb. 330/1 This is code, jargon, techspeak, whatever.
2000 New Scientist 23 Dec. 61/1 If you can speed up the circuit by raising the voltages applied to the chip—‘overclock’ in techspeak—you gain a faster processor for the cost of a slower one.
tech support n. the maintenance of technical or computing equipment and provision of advice regarding its use; the department of a company providing this; cf. technical support n. at technical adj. and n. Compounds.
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1966 N.Y. Times 10 Apr. w25/5 (advt.) Field/Logistics Engineers for tech support customer training, liaison with integrated intelligence processing center.
1982 Computerworld (Nexis) 4 Jan. 100 My policy is to use the data center as a drawing pool for the programming and tech support areas.
2005 Wired Nov. 116/4 Tech support had to help us get the upconvert working.
tech talk n. = techspeak n.
ΚΠ
1959 N.Y. Times 3 May ii. 14/4 The ‘damping factor’ of amplifiers is probably one of the most confusing terms in the barrage of ‘tech-talk’ used to soften the high fidelity consumer for the purchase.
2007 PC World July 150/3 Often they're written by experts who snicker at the glowing notices from novices who think ‘640 by 480’ is tech talk for high resolution.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2009; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.11881
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