How It Works
Algorithm
A fixed set of step-by-step instructions a computer follows — a recipe. In headlines, 'the algorithm' usually means the ranking system that decides what you see on social media, which is really many algorithms plus a learned model.
Origin
Named after the 9th-century Persian mathematician Muhammad ibn Musa al-Khwarizmi; 'al-Khwarizmi' became 'algorismus' in medieval Latin, then 'algorithm'. The modern computing meaning was settled by the mid-20th century.
No single primary source link for this term.