Home / Words / algorithmNo. 0016

algorithm

/ˈælɡəˌrɪðəm//ˈælɡərɪðəm/·noun
a fixed step-by-step procedure for solving a problem or completing a task
Fig. 1 — A token drops in from the top and meets a small diamond with a question mark inside — the fork where everything is decided.
01Definition

An algorithm is a finite sequence of exact, ordered steps that turns an input into a result: do this, then this, then stop. The name is a worn-down tribute to the 9th-century mathematician al-Khwārizmī, whose rules for calculation reached medieval Europe as 'algorism'. What defines an algorithm is not cleverness but repeatability — follow the same steps in the same order and you reach the same answer every time. A recipe, a long-division method, and the strategy a search engine uses to rank pages are all algorithms. It is constantly confused with logarithm, a word that merely sounds alike.

02In use
  • iThe recommendation algorithm ranks each clip against one hidden parameter after another, by rules the company keeps secret.
  • iiEngineers spent months trying to calibrate the algorithm so it stopped favouring the loudest posts.
  • iiiA good algorithm barely slows down even when the volume of data begins to surge.
03Collocations
  • a sorting algorithm
  • the algorithm behind
  • design an algorithm
  • an efficient algorithm
  • the algorithm ranks

Family algorithmic (adjective) · algorithmically (adverb)

04Relations

=procedure, method, routine, formula, process

05Compared
PairThe difference
algorithm vs logarithman algorithm is something you DO (steps); a logarithm is something you CALCULATE (scale).
06TOEFL & IELTS

A high-frequency academic and technology noun, common in Reading and Listening. It is a count noun — 'an algorithm', 'algorithms' — and collocates with follow, design, run, and optimize. The classic exam trap is logarithm: the two share letters and a rhythm but nothing else, so don't let the eye swap them. The adjective is algorithmic ('algorithmic trading'); stress falls on the first syllable, AL-go-rithm.

07Asked
What is an algorithm in simple terms?
A fixed list of steps that always gets the job done: do this, then this, then stop. Long division is an algorithm; so is the routine you follow to tie shoelaces. The scene above strips it to the bone — a token drops to a yes/no question and is sorted by rule, the same way every single time.
What does 'the algorithm' mean on social media?
The ranking system that decides what your feed shows next, scoring every post against your past behaviour — watches, likes, pauses. People say 'the algorithm' with a definite article because it feels like a single invisible gatekeeper, though each platform actually runs many algorithms at once, constantly retuned.
Is a recipe an algorithm?
Almost — and the gap is instructive. A recipe is a sequence of steps with an input and an output, but true algorithms allow no judgment calls: 'season to taste' or 'cook until done' would have to become exact quantities and times. A recipe precise enough for a robot to follow is an algorithm.
Where does the word algorithm come from, and why is it spelled that way?
From al-Khwārizmī, the 9th-century Baghdad mathematician whose name reached Europe as 'algorism', the art of calculating. Centuries of confusion with Greek arithmos ('number') bent the ending to -rithm. That history is also the spelling guide: it is algorithm, never 'algorythm' — no y anywhere.
What is the difference between an algorithm and a logarithm?
They share a rhythm and little else: an algorithm is a step-by-step procedure, a logarithm is a mathematical exponent. The two words even have different parents. The full untangling — with both animated scenes side by side — is on the algorithm vs logarithm page linked in the 'Compared' list above.