English

Etymology

From operating +‎ system. First use appears c. the 1950s.

Pronunciation

Noun

operating system (plural operating systems)

  1. (computing, software) Software that is designed for controlling the allocation and the use of various hardware resources to tasks and remote terminals.
    Synonym: OS (initialism)
    Hypernym: system
    • 1959, United States, National Bureau of Standards, NBS Technical Note, page 55:
      The operating system is the key mediator of access by processes within a computer system.

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