Digitisation

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. The process of converting information, data, or images into a digital format that can be used by computers
2. Changing analog data into electronic digital signals or representations for storage, processing, or transmission
3. Transforming physical or non-digital materials into binary code or digital files suitable for computer systems

Etymology: Digitisation is a fairly plain formation: it is built from "digitise" with the suffix "-ation," which turns a verb into a noun for the act or process. The verb itself comes from "digit," in the sense of a number or numeral, since digital systems count in discrete values, and "-ise" is the verb-forming ending. The suffix has a long pedigree. It descends from Proto-Indo-European roots through Proto-Italic and Latin "-ātiō," passed through Old French "-ation" and Middle English "-aciioun," and reached modern English as "-ation." Its job has barely changed in two thousand years: it names the process of making something the base word describes. The word therefore describes the conversion of physical or analogue material into digital form, such as scanning a printed book or recording a film onto a computer. Its meaning is transparent from its parts, so it needs little more explanation than that.

Synonyms: digitalization, conversion, transformation, modernization, upgrading