process

1 a particular course of action intended to achieve a result; "the procedure of obtaining a driver's license"; "it was a process of trial and error" [syn: procedure]

2 a sustained phenomenon or one marked by gradual changes through a series of states; "events now in process"; "the process of calcification begins later for boys than for girls"

3 (psychology) the performance of some composite cognitive activity; an operation that affects mental contents; "the process of thinking"; "the cognitive operation of remembering" [syn: cognitive process, mental process, operation, cognitive operation]

4 a writ issued by authority of law; usually compels the defendant's attendance in a civil suit; failure to appear results in a default judgment against the defendant [syn: summons]

5 a mental process that you are not directly aware of; "the process of denial" [syn: unconscious process]

6 a natural prolongation or projection from a part of an organism either animal or plant; "a bony process" [syn: outgrowth, appendage]

1 deal with in a routine way; "I'll handle that one"; "process a loan"; "process the applicants"

2 subject to a process or treatment, with the aim of readying for some purpose, improving, or remedying a condition; "process cheese"; "process hair"; "treat the water so it can be drunk"; "treat the lawn with chemicals" ; "treat an oil spill" [syn: treat]

3 perform mathematical and logical operations on (data) according to programmed instructions in order to obtain the required information; "The results of the elections were still being processed when he gave his acceptance speech"

4 institute legal proceedings against; file a suit against; "He was warned that the district attorney would process him"; "She actioned the company for discrimination" [syn: action, sue, litigate]

5 shape, form, or improve a material; "work stone into tools"; "process iron"; "work the metal" [syn: work, work on]

6 deliver a warrant or summons to someone; "He was processed by the sheriff" [syn: serve, swear out]

7 march in a procession; "They processed into the dining room" [syn: march]

English

Etymology

From proces "journey", from processus (past participle of procedere).

Pronunciation 1

• /'prəʊsɛs/
• /'prɑsɛs/

Noun

1. A series of events to produce a result, especially as contrasted to product.

   This product of last month's quality standards committee is quite good, even though the process was flawed.

2. The act of serving a defendant with a summons or a writ.
3. An outgrowth of tissue.
4. A task or program that is or was executing.
5. A set of procedures used to produce a product, most commonly in the food and chemical industries.
   • 1960, Mack Tyner, Process Engineering Calculations: Material and Energy Balances - Ordinarily a process plant will use a steam boiler to supply its process heat requirements and to drive a steam-turbine generator.
   • 1987, J. R. Richards, Principles of control system design in Modelling and control of fermentation processes - The words plant or process infer generally any dynamic system, be it primarily mechanical, electrical, or chemical process in nature, and may extend also to include social or economic systems.
6. A path of succession of states through which a system passes.

Derived terms

• process color, process colour
• process hot water
• process server
• process upset
• biological process
• chemical process
• thermodynamic process
• business process
• industrial process

Translations

• Czech: proces
• Dutch: bewerken, bewerking, ontwikkelingsgang, proces, verloop
• French: recette, processus, procedé, proceder
• Galician: proceso
• German: Prozess
• Greek: (1) διεργασία (diadikasia) , (1,4,5) διαδικασία (diadikasia) , (2) δικαστική κλήση (dikastiki klisi)
• Ido: recepto
• Italian: azione
• Japanese: 過程 (かてい, katei), プロセス (purosesu)
• Kurdish:

  Kurmanji: prose, qonax, pêvajo, doman, derax, demajo, vetîre

  Sorani: هۆکار

• Norwegian: prosess
• Portuguese: processo, proceder, procedimento
• Swedish: process
• Spanish: proceso
• Telugu: విధానం (vidhaanaM)

Verb

1. To perform a particular process.
2. To treat with a substance
3. To use or manipulate data with a software program.

Translations

Pronunciation 2

• /prɒˈsɛs/

Verb

1. To walk in a procession.

Swedish

Pronunciation

Noun

process

1. process

A process is a naturally occurring or designed sequence of changes of properties or attributes of an object or system. More precisely, and from the most general systemic perspective, every process is representable as a particular trajectory (or part thereof) in a system's phase space.

It may refer to:

• Process (anatomy), a projection or outgrowth of tissue from a larger body
• Process (computing), a running program; a task to be executed, especially one which is largely self-contained
• Process (engineering), a set of transformations of input elements into products with specific properties, characterized by transformation parameters
• Process (systems engineering)
• Process (philosophy), unifying principles which operate in many different systemic contexts
• Process (science), a method or event that results in a transformation in a physical or biological object, a substance or an organism.
  • Biological process
  • Chemical process
  • Thermodynamic process
• Process (Candy Lo album)
• Business process, a method or system for achieving a commercial result
• Industrial process, a procedure involving chemical or mechanical steps to aid in the manufacture of an item or items
• Process music, music which arises from a process
• Service of process, an official notice of a legal proceeding
• A specific recipe for semiconductor device fabrication is typically referred to as a "process"
• Interactions of Actors is a Process theory

Process may also be:

• Relaxer, a chemical agent that straightens hair (also known as a process haircut), a term primarily used for men

See also

• Business Process Mapping
• Process architecture
• Process control
• Process management
• Process modeling
• Process theory

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