Unprogrammed

Part of speech: adjective

Definitions

1. Lacking specific coding or instructions, it is characterized by the absence of a structured sequence or predetermined guidelines for operation
2. Existing without an established design or intended programming, this state does not conform to typical operational directives
3. Not governed by a predetermined set of instructions or software routines

Etymology: "Unprogrammed" is a plain formation: the prefix "un-", meaning "not", attached to "programmed", the past participle of "program." The prefix has a long lineage, descending from a Proto-Indo-European negative root and passing through Proto-Germanic and Old English into Middle and modern English, where it has been freely attached to participles and adjectives for centuries. The base word "programmed" carries the main idea. A program in the sense of a set of instructions for a machine is a modern extension of the older word "program," which came into English from French and Latin with the sense of a public notice or written schedule. Once that sense of a sequence of instructions took hold, "programmed" described something whose behavior had been pre-set, and "unprogrammed" naturally describes the opposite: a thing, person or process that has been given no such fixed sequence and so is open-ended or free to respond to circumstances.