ORACLE (computer) ORACLE (computer) The ORACLE or "Oak Ridge Automatic Computer and Logical Engine", an early computer built by Oak Ridge National Laboratory, was based on the IAS architecture developed by John von Neumann. The "Oak Ridge National Laboratory Review" states: [Oak Ridge National] Laboratory engineers assisted Argonne [National Laboratory] during the early 1950s in design and fabrication of the Oak Ridge Automatic Computer and Logical Engine. Its name was selected with reference to a lyrical acronym from Greek mythology—ORACLE, defined as 'a shrine in which a deity reveals hidden knowledge.' Assembled before the development of transistors and microchips, the ORACLE was
Acronym was formed from the Greek words , ', "topmost, extreme" and , ', "name.") For example, the army offense of being "absent without official leave" was abbreviated to "A.W.O.L." in reports, but when pronounced as a word ("awol"), it became an acronym. While initial letters are commonly used to form an acronym, the original definition was "a word made from the initial letters or syllables of other words", for example UNIVAC from UNIVersal Automatic Computer. In English, acronyms "pronounced as words" may be a 20th-century phenomenon. Linguist David Wilton in "Word Myths: Debunking Linguistic Urban Legends" claims that "forming words