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Discuss Email this Feedback RSS/XML Permalink A.Word.A.Day--algorithm This week's theme: words with built-in definite articles. algorithm (AL-guh-rith-uhm) noun A finite sequence of well-defined steps for solving a problem. [After al Khwarizmi (the [man] of Khwarizm), a nickname of the 9th century Persian astronomer and mathematician Abu Jafar Muhammand ibn Musa, who authored many texts on arithmetic and algebra. He worked in Baghdad and his nickname alludes to his place of origin Khwarizm (Khiva), in present-day Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan.] Today's word in Visual Thesaurus. -Anu Garg (words at wordsmith.org) "If you teach a computer to write a piece of music by feeding it an algorithm, have you composed the resulting piece or has the computer?" Alexander Gelfand; The Sounds of Science; The Walrus (Toronto, Canada); Jun 2007. X-Bonus A politician is a man who thinks of the next election; while the statesman thinks of the next generation. -James Freeman Clarke, preacher and author (1810-1888)

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