Scoreboard

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A board or electronic display that shows the current score, time, and other relevant information during a game or competition
2. A display mechanism that conveys scores, timing, and other data pertinent to events or matches in sports and competitions
3. A visual apparatus that presents the score, duration, and additional details relevant to sporting events or competitions

Etymology: Before boards carried numbers for crowds to read, a score was simply a notch or line cut to keep count. The Old English "scoru" was a notch, and it came to mean a tally of points in games, while "bord" was a plank. Put together, "scoreboard" is a plain compound: a board on which the score is kept, so the name describes the object exactly as it works. The first half traces back through Old Norse "skor" and Proto-Germanic "skurō", a notch or incision, to a root meaning to cut. The second half comes from Proto-Germanic "burdą", a board, which passed into Old English as "bord" and gave English "board". Both parts were ordinary, long-established words long before they were joined.