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Disk and disc are the two alternative spellings of the descriptive word for things of a generally thin and circular geometry. These variations are due to the way in which the words originated. The discussion here somewhat focuses on how the word applies to data-storage media. See Disc (disambiguation) for other meanings.

The earlier word is disk, which came into the English language in the middle of the 17th century, and (probably following pre-existing words such as risk) it was spelled with a k. The spelling disc was introduced in the 18th century, following an increasing tendency to base the spelling of words on their roots: in this case the Latin word discus and the Greek word δισκος (note that kappa in Greek is usually transliterated by c rather than k). In the 19th century, disk became the conventional spelling for audio recordings made on a flat plate, such as the gramophone record; this usage gave rise to the modern term disc jockey. Early BBC technicians differentiated between disks (in-house transcription records) and discs (the colloquial term for commercial gramophone records, or what the BBC dubbed CGRs).

By the 20th century, the k-spelling was more popular in America, while the c-spelling was preferred in England. In the 1950s, when the American company IBM pioneered the first hard disk drive storage devices, the k-spelling was used. Consequently, in computer jargon today it is common for the k-spelling to refer mainly to magnetic storage devices (particularly in British English, where the term disk is sometimes regarded as a contraction of diskette, a much later word and actually a diminutive of disk).

Some latter-day competitors to IBM prefer the c-spelling. In 1979 the Dutch company Philips, along with Sony, developed the compact disc medium; here, the c-spelling was chosen. The c-spelling is now used consistently for optical media such as the compact disc and similar technologies.

References

1. "Compact disk". The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language. Bartleby.com. 2000.
2. Barry Taylor (2008-03-12). "Test Records". BTInternet. Retrieved 2008-06-11.
3. Paul Brians. "Common Errors in English". Washington State University. Retrieved 2008-06-11.

Further reading

• What is the Difference Between a Disc and a Disk?, article at wiseGEEK.com
• Apple Support Document HT2300: What's the difference between a "disc" and a "disk?"

See also

• Spelling

• English spelling
• American and British English differences
• Computing terminology