Getting with the ‘Program’ (or ‘Programme’)

Programme is a British English spelling variant of programme; both refer to an outline in a prescribed order or an agenda, such as a show at the theater. From the 20th century programme also mentioned computer code, and in this case, both British and American spellings are the same.

from programme has several meanings in English, most of which refer to an outline or system of things that must follow a prescribed order. You may be assigned a program upon entering the theater or football field, which will list the actors or the schedule of events or the roster of each team’s players. A TV show is one of a series of scheduled series run by a network (or today by a streaming service). And in the 20th century, programme means the set of coded instructions that the computer follows.

male-lying-with-tablet

Shh, our programs are on.

Originally, an agenda was an announcement posted in a public place, such as to indicate the agenda for a meeting. That is the meaning of late Latin programmeas well as the French programme. Both are derived from Greek programmeformed from the prefix donate (“before”) and the verb lead (“write”).

‘Program’ in British English

Spell programme exists for nouns in several forms of English, but is more likely to be found in publications from several countries of the British Commonwealth:

Many commentators continue to scoff at any sign of progressive ambition. programme privatization is common sense while any attempt to nationalize monopolies is seen as utopia in the sky. —Tom Kibasi, guardNovember 19, 2019

The Queen has disapproved of the Duke of York’s BBC interview about his friendship with Jeffrey Epstein. … Instead of ending speculation about Prince Andrew’s behavior, the interview lasted an hour programme revived the controversy and created new questions about his movements and the various “justifications” he offered. — Camilla Tomine and Victoria Ward, Sydney Morning NewspaperNovember 18, 2019

Exceptions: Canada, Calculator, Variations

Newspapers and other publications of Canadian origin tend to use the spelling programme in all meanings of the word:

seven programs run by Algonquin College at campuses in Perth, Pembroke and Ottawa has been suspended because of low enrollment. For the fall 2018 semester, the Perth campus will suspend two office administration activities programsa social service worker programmea building block programmeand a carpentry and renovation programme. — Alisson Mah, Citizens of OttawaMarch 17, 2018

This last point has been addressed for many years programs recently, especially in a powerful scene in the 2019 Netflix miniseries Tales of the City. —Stuart Derdeyn, Vancouver sunSeptember 9, 2019

The calculated feeling of programme spelled the same in both American and British English:

Google scientists have created a computer programme Use basic reasoning to teach yourself how to navigate the London Underground system. —Hannah Devlin, guardOctober 12, 2016

When the verb programme expressed in it –ed or –ing form, the final consonant is doubled; When programme displayed in the same way, end –e dropped. This results in the same spelling for both variants in the past tense (programmed) and present participle (program).

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English has some other words that end in -gram comes from leadinclude chart, iconand words formed with the combined form -gramsuch as telegram. Most of these words do not exhibit spelling patterns like programme/programme. There are some exceptions. For example, the English noun Meteorologyrefers to a letter sent by air, sometimes spelled out gas chart.

Categories: Usage Notes
Source: vothisaucamau.edu.vn

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