administrate

See also: administratè and administratë

English edit

Etymology edit

archaic: Latin administrātus, past participle of administrō.
modern: Back-formation from administration (from administer, also from Latin administrō)

(The exact etymology is disputed, see note below.)

Pronunciation edit

IPA^(key): /ədˈmɪnɪstɹeɪt/
Audio (Southern England) (file)
Hyphenation: ad‧min‧i‧strate

Verb edit

administrate (third-person singular simple present administrates, present participle administrating, simple past and past participle administrated)

to administer
(computing) the act or function of providing maintenance and general housekeeping for computer systems, networks, peripheral equipment, etc.
The job is to administrate the network.

Usage notes edit

Administrate is widely regarded as a non-standard alternative to administer, but in some dialects it is preferred or accepted, and in some industries it is preferred as a jargon term in certain contexts.

Although sources such as Merriam-Webster show the etymology of administrate as being directly from Latin in the 16th century, those same sources also indicate that administer and administration can be attested in English in the 14th century, so a back-formation from administration is also plausible.

Google nGram indicates that between 1800 and 2000, "administer" was between 200 and 300 times more common than "administrate". Even since then, it has remained more than 75× more common.