macOS.
A major operating system, formerly known as OS X (and before that as Mac OS X), used on laptop and desktop computers by Apple Inc.
Meaning & usage
A major operating system, formerly known as OS X (and before that as Mac OS X), used on laptop and desktop computers by Apple Inc.
Where this word comes from
Etymology tree Proto-Celtic *makkʷos Primitive Irish ᚋᚐᚊᚊᚔ (maqqi) Old Irish macc Middle Irish mac Scottish Gaelic mac Scottish Gaelic an Proto-Celtic *to- Proto-Indo-European *weyd-der. Proto-Indo-European *wéydtus Proto-Celtic *wissus Proto-Celtic *towissus Proto-Indo-European *-eh₂- Proto-Indo-European *-kos Proto-Indo-European *-eh₂kos Proto-Celtic *-ākos Proto-Celtic *towissākos Primitive Irish ᚈᚑᚃᚔᚄᚐᚉᚔ (tovisaci) Old Irish toísech Scottish Gaelic tòisiche Scottish Gaelic Mac an Tòisiche English McIntosh English Macintosh English Mac Proto-Indo-European *h₃ep- Proto-Indo-European *-os Proto-Indo-European *h₃épos Proto-Italic *opos Latin opus Latin opera Proto-Indo-European *-h₂ Proto-Indo-European *-éh₂ Proto-Indo-European *-tós Proto-Indo-European *-eh₂tos Proto-Italic *-ātos Latin -ātus Latin operātusder. English operate Proto-Germanic *-ungō Old English -ung Middle English -ynge English -ing English operating Proto-Indo-European *ḱe? Proto-Indo-European *ḱómder.? Proto-Indo-European *sem-der.? Proto-Hellenic *ksún Ancient Greek σύν (sún) Ancient Greek συν- (sun-) Proto-Indo-European *steh₂- Proto-Indo-European *stísteh₂ti Proto-Hellenic *hístāmi Ancient Greek ἵστημι (hístēmi) Ancient Greek σῠνῐ́στημῐ (sŭnĭ́stēmĭ) Proto-Indo-European *-mn̥ Proto-Hellenic *-mə Ancient Greek -μᾰ (-mă) Ancient Greek σύστημα (sústēma)bor. Late Latin systēma Middle French systemebor. English system English operating system English OS English macOS From Mac (“Macintosh”) + OS (“operating system”).
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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.
Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.