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Origin and history of parameter

parameter(n.)

1650s in geometry, in reference to conic sections, from Modern Latin parameter (1630s), from Greek para- "beside, subsidiary" (see para- (1)) + metron "measure" (from PIE root *me- (2) "to measure").

A geometry term until late 1920s when it began to be extended to "measurable factor which helps to define a particular system," hence the common meaning (influenced by perimeter) of "boundary, limit, characteristic factor," common from 1950s. Related: Parametric; parametrical.

also from 1650s

Entries linking to parameter

*me-(2)

*mē-, Proto-Indo-European root meaning "to measure." Some words may belong instead to root *med- "to take appropriate measures."

It might form all or part of: amenorrhea; centimeter; commensurate; diameter; dimension; gematria; geometry; immense; isometric; meal (n.1) "food, time for eating;" measure; menarche; meniscus; menopause; menses; menstrual; menstruate; mensural; meter (n.1) "poetic measure;" meter (n.2) unit of length; meter (n.3) "device for measuring;" -meter; Metis; metric; metrical; metronome; -metry; Monday; month; moon; parameter; pentameter; perimeter; piecemeal; semester; symmetry; thermometer; trigonometry; trimester.

It might also be the source of: Sanskrit mati "measures," matra "measure;" Avestan, Old Persian ma- "to measure;" Greek metron "measure," metra "lot, portion;" Latin metri "to measure."

para-(1)

before vowels, par-, word-forming element of Greek origin, "alongside, beyond; altered; contrary; irregular, abnormal," from Greek para- from para (prep.) "beside, near; issuing from; against, contrary to" (from PIE *prea, from root *per- (1) "forward," hence "toward, near; against").

It is cognate with Old English for- "off, away." Originally in English in Greek-derived words; it has been active in English mostly in scientific and technical words, but until recently was not usually regarded as a naturalized formative element in English.

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    early 15c., perimetre, "circumference, outer boundary, or border of a figure or surface," from Latin perimetros, from Greek perimetron "circumference," from peri "around, about" (see peri-) + metron "measure" (from PIE root *me- (2) "to measure"). Military sense of "boundary of a
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