Config

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A saved set of options or preferences that controls how a software program, device or system is arranged and operates
2. The particular arrangement of parts or stored settings that determines how a computer program or machine is set up
3. Stored choices and parameters that define how a piece of software, hardware or a whole system is arranged and behaves

Etymology: "Config" is a shortening of "configuration," so its story is simply a clipped form of a longer word. The full term "configuration" comes from Latin "configurare," meaning to shape or fashion according to a pattern, built from "con-" (together) and "figurare" (to form, from "figura," shape). Over the centuries it came to mean the arrangement of parts in a system, which is why the short form now often refers to the settings that control how software or a device behaves. The clipping is what makes this form interesting: the original sense of physical arrangement or outward shape gradually gave way to a technical sense about settings, and "config" carries that narrower meaning in everyday computing. Its usage is most common in informal speech and in software contexts, where brevity matters.

Synonyms: configuration, setup, settings