Routing

Part of speech: verb

Pronunciation: /ˈɹuːtɪŋ/

Definitions

1. The procedure for managing the paths that data takes across a network
2. The process of selecting paths along which data is transmitted in communication systems ; the act of determining directions or courses for travel or distribution
3. Managing how data is forwarded between computers or devices on a network ; the activity of arranging or deciding routes for transport or delivery

Etymology: Routing is a case of two English words meeting in a single form. The noun "route" came into English from Old French, and "rout", a word for a defeated crowd or a disorderly mob, reached English through the same French ancestry, so the two were close relations long before computers existed. The "-ing" ending that turns them into a verb-derived term is an ordinary English suffix, and the pronunciation /ˈɹuːtɪŋ/ follows the "route" pronunciation, which is why the word sounds like the road sense rather than the mob sense. In networking, the word describes the work of choosing paths for data packets across interconnected machines. The sense that matters here is the road one: a route is a course to be followed, and routing is the act of plotting that course. Nothing in the computing use depends on the older "rout" meaning, so the two families of meaning have simply stayed separate in practice.

Synonyms: directing, guiding