Keypunched

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. A technique that entails entering data via a keyboard interface A method of recording information through the pressing of specific keys on a computer An action involving manual input of data by activating particular keys on a keyboard
2. To input information by pressing keys on a keyboard or similar device for recording data
3. The act of using a keyboard or keypunch machine to make an exact record of information

Etymology: The verb "keypunch" is a plain compound of "key" and "punch," and its history lies in the machines it names. Before keyboards were tied to computer terminals, data was stored on punched cards, stiff paper sheets in which holes at set positions encoded letters and numbers. A keypunch was the device an operator used to make those holes: pressing a key on its keyboard punched the corresponding pattern into the card, so "to keypunch" meant to prepare data this way. The past tense "keypunched" simply names what the operator did at that machine, one card after another. Because the work was done by hand on a dedicated device, the verb carries the mechanical image of the punch itself, even though the same idea of typing data in now happens on ordinary keyboards.

Synonyms: entered, inputted, typed, recorded, logged