English in computing
English is the lingua franca in computing and
on the Internet, and the computing vocabu-
lary of many languages is borrowed from
English.
Scientific vocabulary
In many languages, Greek and Latin roots
constitute an important part of the scientific
vocabulary. This is especially true for the
terms referring to fields of science. For ex-
ample, the equivalent words for mathematics,
physics, chemistry, geology, and genealogy
are roughly the same in many languages. As
for computer science, numerous words in
many languages are from American English,
and the vocabulary can evolve very quickly.
An exception to this trend is the word refer-
ring to computer science itself, which in
many European languages is roughly the
same as the English informatics: German: In-
formatik; French:
informatique; Spanish,
Italian, and Portuguese: informática; Polish:
informatyka.
German
See also: Denglisch
In German, English words are very often
used as well:
• noun: Computer, Website, Software, E-
Mail, Blog
• verb: downloaden, booten, crashen
French
See also: Franglais
In French, English words are generally un-
derstood. In practice, some of them are used
as well and others are translated by the
Académie française and the OQLF.
obsolete words
• database: base de données
• software: logiciel
both used
• email (Europe), courriel (mainly in Quebec
and sometimes in Europe), or rarely mèl
• spam: pourriel
• phishing: hameçonnage (phishing is more
often used)
• boot: amorcer, booter, démarrer
• bootable: amorçable, bootable
• reboot: redémarrer, rebooter
• shutdown: arrêter
• overclocking: surfréquençage,
surcadençage (overclocking is more often
used)
needs many words to translate
• webcam : caméra web
• watercooling : refroidissement à l’eau
franglais
• tuning PC: case modding
Icelandic
The Icelandic language has its own vocabu-
lary of scientific terms, still English borrow-
ings exist. English or Icelandicised words are
mostly used in casual conversations, whereas
the Icelandic words might be longer or not
widespread.