a HackerNoon project
Original · left

Client (customer)

An individual or enterprise paying a professional practitioner (such as an attorney or architect) for tailored services.

First in use: ancient / pre-modern
Duplicate · right

Client (computing)

A piece of hardware or client-side software program requesting services, assets, or data from a central server.

First in use: the 1970s

Client / Client (customer) / Client (computing)

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Canonical todayMeasuring…
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Duplicate share · 12 mo—
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Colour keyGrey · original meaningGreen · duplicate meaningAmber · contested (40–60%)How colours work

Paying customers vs. client-server.

Which meaning of Client is the original, and which one is the duplicate riding on its name? Client (customer) came first (ancient / pre-modern). Client (computing) arrived in the 1970s. The data below shows which one owns the word now.

Wikipedia pageviews since 2015

Client (customer)Client (computing)
English Wikipedia pageviews since July 2015 load here.

Duplicate's share of attention

Green line = duplicate's % · above 60 it owns the word · below 40 the original does

Share-of-attention line loads here.

The case for each meaning

Sourced definitions, usage stats and quotes

Original · ancient / pre-modern

Client (customer)

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Duplicate · the 1970s

Client (computing)

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More duplicated terms

Cloud & infrastructure