Cybernetics

//ˌsaɪ.bə(ɹ)ˈnɛ.tɪks// noun

noun ·Moderate ·College level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    The theory/science of communication and control in living organisms or machines. uncountable

    "Near-synonym: control theory (not consistently differentiated)"

  2. 2
    (biology) the field of science concerned with processes of communication and control (especially the comparison of these processes in biological and artificial systems) wordnet
  3. 3
    The art/study of governing, controlling automatic processes and communication. uncountable
  4. 4
    Technology related to computers and the Internet. uncountable

Synonyms

All synonyms
aerobiologyagrobiologyanatomyastrobiologyautomatic electronicsautonetics

Example

More examples

"He is interested in the latest development of cybernetics."

Etymology

From Ancient Greek κυβερνήτης (kubernḗtēs, “steersman”), from κυβερνάω (kubernáō, “I steer, drive, guide, act as a pilot”) (whence English govern). The term is attested since at least 1948 in the book Cybernetics by Norbert Wiener, influenced by the cognate term and doublet governor, the name of an early control device proposed by James Clerk Maxwell in 1868. Note also the 1830s French cybernétique (“the art of governing”). Also doublet of Kubernetes.

Related phrases

management cyberneticsneuro cyberneticsneuro-cyberneticsquantum cyberneticssecond order cyberneticstechnical cyberneticsdecision theoryinformation theorysystems science

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.