Versionings

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A series of modifications or updates made to a particular software or document over time
2. The act of creating different iterations or iterations for improvement or compatibility
3. An ongoing process of change involving multiple alternate states or conditions of a given item

Etymology: "Versionings" is simply the plural of "versioning," which in turn is "version" with the suffix "-ing" added. The suffix is an old one: it descends from Old English "-ung" and "-ing," which formed nouns from verbs, and it is the same ending found in words like "building" or "meeting." Here it turns the idea of a version, a particular form or state of something, into the act or process of producing such forms. The result is a term for a practice rather than a single thing. Each "versioning" is a successive release of software, and the plural counts those releases one by one. The base word "version" has been used in English since the Middle Ages for a rendering or translation of a text, which is why software updates, each giving a new form of a program, fit the word so naturally.

Synonyms: revisions, edits, updates, modifications