technology
noun
Simple meaning
Any useful skill or mechanism that humans have developed or invented.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
tehknahluhjeeSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
tɛkˈnɑlədʒi
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
noun
countable
Any useful skill or mechanism that humans have developed or invented (including in prescientific eras).
The combined application of science and art in practical ways in industry, as for example in designing new machines.
Machines or equipment thus designed.
countablefigurative
Any useful trait that has evolved in any organism.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- A1 · Beginner
- Frequency
- Very Common
- Typical Use
- Everyday English
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: Any useful skill or mechanism that humans have developed or invented (including in prescientific eras).
Used this way, technology is a specialist word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It turns up most in technical or specialist writing contexts.
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Specialist/technical
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Specialized
- Connotation
- Clinical and technical
- Usage feel
- Technical and specialized
Where it naturally appears
- Technical/specialist writing
Usage note
In general conversation this sense usually needs explaining — outside its field, people reach for a plainer word.
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
More ways to use technology
- “The mastery of fire was a huge advance in human technology.”noun
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Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
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Word Family
Related forms, grouped by how they connect.
Word family
Words built from the same root.
Someone whose occupation involves training in a specific technical process.
A person who uses scientific knowledge to solve practical problems.
Related to a practical method or art applied to some particular task.
Of or relating to a practical subject that is organized according to scientific principles.
With regard to technique.
By means of technology.
Compound terms
Established multiword terms.
An agency in the Department of Commerce that works with United States industries to promote competitiveness and maximize the impact of technology on economic growth.
The design and construction of communications technology that transmits information in digital form.
Highly advanced technological development (especially in electronics).
The branch of information science that deals with natural language information.
The branch of engineering that deals with the use of computers and telecommunications to retrieve and store and transmit information.
An engineering university in Cambridge.
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.