process

[pros-es; especially British proh-ses] /ˈprɒs ɛs; especially British ˈproʊ sɛs/
noun, plural processes
[pros-es-iz, ‐uh-siz, ‐uh-seez or, esp. British, proh-ses‐, proh-suh‐] /ˈprɒs ɛs ɪz, ‐ə sɪz, ‐əˌsiz or, esp. British, ˈproʊ sɛs‐, ˈproʊ sə‐/ (Show IPA)
1.
a systematic series of actions directed to some end:
to devise a process for homogenizing milk.
2.
a continuous action, operation, or series of changes taking place in a definite manner:
the process of decay.
3.
Law.
  1. the summons, mandate, or writ by which a defendant or thing is brought before court for litigation.
  2. the whole course of the proceedings in an action at law.
4.
Photography. photomechanical or photoengraving methods collectively.
5.
Biology, Anatomy. a natural outgrowth, projection, or appendage:
a process of a bone.
6.
the action of going forward or on.
7.
the condition of being carried on.
8.
course or lapse, as of time.
9.
conk4 (defs 1, 2).
verb (used with object)
10.
to treat or prepare by some particular process, as in manufacturing.
11.
to handle (papers, records, etc.) by systematically organizing them, recording or making notations on them, following up with appropriate action, or the like:
to process mail.
12.
to require (someone) to answer questionnaires, perform various tasks, and sometimes to undergo physical and aptitude classification examinations before the beginning or termination of a period of service:
The army processes all personnel entering or leaving the service.
13.
to convert (an agricultural commodity) into marketable form by a special process, as pasteurization.
14.
to institute a legal process against.
15.
to serve a process or summons on.
16.
Computers. to carry out operations on (data or programs).
17.
conk4 (def 3).
verb (used without object)
18.
to undergo the activities involved in processing personnel:
The recruits expected to process in four days.
adjective
19.
prepared or modified by an artificial process:
process cheese.
20.
noting, pertaining to, or involving photomechanical or photoengraving methods:
a process print.
21.
Informal. of or pertaining to hair that has been conked.
22.
Movies. created by or used in process cinematography:
a moving background on a process screen.
Origin
1275-1325; Middle English proces (noun) (< Old French) < Latin prōcessus a going forward, equivalent to prō- pro-1 + ced-, variant stem of cēdere to yield (see cede) + -tus suffix of v. action; see cession
Related forms
processual
[pro-sesh-oo-uh l or, esp. British, proh-] /prɒˈsɛʃ u əl or, esp. British, proʊ-/ (Show IPA), adjective
overprocess, verb (used with object)
preprocess, verb
reprocess, verb (used with object)
semiprocessed, adjective
transprocess, noun
unprocessed, adjective
Synonyms
1. operation. Process, procedure, proceeding apply to something that goes on or takes place. A process is a series of progressive and interdependent steps by which an end is attained: a chemical process. Procedure usually implies a formal or set order of doing a thing, a method of conducting affairs: parliamentary procedure. Proceeding (usually pl.) applies to what goes on or takes place on a given occasion or to the records of the occasion: Proceedings of the Royal Academy of Sciences.
Pronunciation note
The word process, an early 14th century French borrowing, has a regularly formed plural that adds -es to the singular. This plural, as in similar words like recesses and successes, has traditionally been pronounced
[-iz] /-ɪz/ (Show IPA)
[pros-es-iz, proh-ses-] /ˈprɒs ɛs ɪz, ˈproʊ sɛs-/ or
[pros-uh-siz, proh-suh-] /ˈprɒs ə sɪz, ˈproʊ sə-/ . Recent years have seen the increasing popularity of an
[-eez] /-ˌiz/ pronunciation for processes, perhaps by mistaken analogy with such plurals as theses and hypotheses, with which it has no connection. This newer pronunciation is common among younger educated speakers.
Examples from the web for process
  • As you can see, the process is not easily predictable, and it is subject to the influence of the personalities of those involved.
  • We want to know if these abnormalities are the result of the disease process or if they are abnormalities that cause the disease.
  • The idea was to solicit articles from scholars, subject the articles to a seven-step review process, and post them free online.
  • Our hard-working bees produced it―and pollinated our garden in the process.
  • But that betrays an ignorance of the creative process.
  • The alveolar process is the thickest and most spongy part of the bone.
  • Online gift registries can make the giving process easier too.
  • The process can take years, depending on how quickly the plant grows.
  • That puts the peace process into cold storage for the time being.
  • Of course, you can process the jams for long-term storage if you wish.
British Dictionary definitions for process

process1

/ˈprəʊsɛs/
noun
1.
a series of actions that produce a change or development: the process of digestion
2.
a method of doing or producing something
3.
a forward movement
4.
the course of time
5.
  1. a summons, writ, etc, commanding a person to appear in court
  2. the whole proceedings in an action at law
6.
a natural outgrowth or projection of a part, organ, or organism
7.
a distinct subtask of a computer system which can be regarded as proceeding in parallel with other subtasks of the system
8.
(modifier) relating to the general preparation of a printing forme or plate by the use, at some stage, of photography
9.
(modifier) denoting a film, film scene, shot, etc, made by techniques that produce unusual optical effects
verb (transitive)
10.
to subject to a routine procedure; handle
11.
to treat or prepare by a special method, esp to treat (food) in order to preserve it: to process cheese
12.
  1. to institute legal proceedings against
  2. to serve a process on
13.
(photog)
  1. to develop, rinse, fix, wash, and dry (exposed film, etc)
  2. to produce final prints or slides from (undeveloped film)
14.
(computing) to perform mathematical and logical operations on (data) according to programmed instructions in order to obtain the required information
15.
to prepare (food) using a food processor
Word Origin
C14: from Old French procès, from Latin prōcessus an advancing, from prōcēdere to proceed

process2

/prəˈsɛs/
verb
1.
(intransitive) to proceed in or as if in a procession
Word Origin
C19: back formation from procession
Word Origin and History for process
n.

early 14c., "fact of being carried on" (e.g. in process), from Old French proces "a journey; continuation, development; legal trial" (13c.) and directly from Latin processus "a going forward, advance, progress," from past participle stem of procedere "go forward" (see proceed).

Meaning "course or method of action" is from mid-14c.; sense of "continuous series of actions meant to accomplish some result" (the main modern sense) is from 1620s. Legal sense of "course of action of a suit at law" is attested from early 14c.

v.

1530s, "begin legal action against," from Middle French processer "to prosecute," from proces (see process (n.)). Meaning "prepare by special process" is from 1881, from the noun in English. Of persons, "to register and examine," by 1935. Related: Processed; processing.

"to go in procession," 1814, "A colloquial or humorous back-formation" from procession [OED]. Accent on second syllable.

process in Medicine

process proc·ess (prŏs'ěs', prō'sěs')
n. pl. proc·ess·es (prŏs'ěs'ĭz, prō'sěs'-, prŏs'ĭ-sēz', prō'sĭ-)

  1. A series of actions, changes, or functions bringing about a result.

  2. Advance or progress, as of a disease.

  3. An outgrowth of tissue; a projecting part, as of a bone.

proc'ess adj.
proc'ess v.
process in Technology

1. The sequence of states of an executing program. A process consists of the program code (which may be shared with other processes which are executing the same program), private data, and the state of the processor, particularly the values in its registers. It may have other associated resources such as a process identifier, open files, CPU time limits, shared memory, child processes, and signal handlers.
One process may, on some platforms, consist of many threads. A multitasking operating system can run multiple processes concurrently or in parallel, and allows a process to spawn "child" processes.
(2001-06-16)
2. The sequence of activities, people, and systems involved in carrying out some business or achieving some desired result. E.g. software development process, project management process, configuration management process.
(2001-06-16)