Awk
/ɔːk/noun
Awk is a pattern-scanning and text-processing programming language, also found historically as a word meaning awkward or turned the wrong way.
Did you know?The programming language AWK was named from the initials of its creators: Alfred Aho, Peter Weinberger, and Brian Kernighan—not from the older English word.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Indo-European
PIE
*apo
“Away from, off, or separated from”
Proto-Germanic
PGmc
*afugaz
“Turned away, back-to-front, or in the wrong direction”
Old Norse
Old Norse
öfugr
“Inverted, reversed, or contrary”
Middle English
Middle English
awk
“Awkward, clumsy, or turned the wrong way”
16th Century
English
awkward
“Clumsy or difficult to handle; formed from awk with a suffix meaning direction or manner”
1977
English
AWK
“A text-processing language named from the initials of Aho, Weinberger, and Kernighan”