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spreadsheet

spreadsheet

34 3.2
A computer program for organizing numbers and information in rows and columns and doing simple calculations
  • noun
  • /ˈsprɛdˌʃiːt/
  • Specialized
translation icon : hoja de cálculo
  • Learn some basic skills for how to use spreadsheet software to examine large data sets.
  • spreadsheet software
  • Excel spreadsheet
  • Microsoft Excel spreadsheet

Do you come come up with an Excel spreadsheet or that's harder?

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Examples

  • I input data into a spreadsheet.

  • So let's pull up the spreadsheet here.

  • And then he also found a spreadsheet of officer names.

  • The thing is, having such a spreadsheet helps you with two things.

  • Students then used a spreadsheet to create a graph representing that particular week's activities.

    Academic text (2013)
  • The department would deliver a spreadsheet with a list of OCLC numbers for the records.

    Academic text (2015)
  • Respondents were asked to indicate whether they used 11 specific spreadsheet functions and commands.

    Academic text (1992)
  • The two staff members then separately entered the raw scores into an Excel spreadsheet for data analysis.

    Academic text (2015)
  • So I made a spreadsheet of all of your expenses, job opportunities and miscellaneous tasks that I think you should focus on.

  • She organizes her monthly expenses using a spreadsheet to keep track of her budget.

How Complex

warehousing
  • Specialized
1 4.0
database management system
  • Specialized
1 3.9
database
  • Specialized
402 3.4
spreadsheet
  • Specialized
34 3.2
calculator
81 1.3

Surface Forms

spreadsheet singular
spreadsheets plural

Morphology

spreadsheet = spread + sheet (semi-transparent) = spread + sheet

The components 'spread' and 'sheet' are recognizable, but the modern sense 'computer program' is a metaphorical extension from paper accounting sheets.

Etymology

The word spreadsheet comes from the idea of a sheet of paper you spread out to see many numbers at once. Its parts spread and sheet mean 'spread out' and 'sheet of paper'. That's why a spreadsheet today on a computer is a table that helps you organize and calculate many numbers.