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Original · left

Driver (person)

The human operator seated behind the steering controls of a motorized vehicle.

First in use: the 1500s
Duplicate · right

Device driver

A specialized software component facilitating direct communication between an operating system and connected hardware devices.

First in use: the 1960s

Driver / Driver (person) / Device driver

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

Behind the wheel vs. behind the kernel.

Which meaning of Driver is the original, and which one is the duplicate riding on its name? Driver (person) came first (the 1500s). Device driver arrived in the 1960s. The data below shows which one owns the word now.

Wikipedia pageviews since 2015

Driver (person)Device driver
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 · the 1500s

Driver (person)

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Duplicate · the 1960s

Device driver

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More duplicated terms

Hardware & devices