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Original · left

Elastic (rubber band)

A woven rubberized band that stretches under tension and rebounds to its original dimension.

First in use: the 1800s
Duplicate · right

Elastic computing

The architectural capability of a cloud system to automatically provision and decommission compute power alongside demand.

First in use: c. 2006

Elastic / Elastic (rubber band) / Elastic computing

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

Rubber bands vs. autoscaling.

Which meaning of Elastic is the original, and which one is the duplicate riding on its name? Elastic (rubber band) came first (the 1800s). Elastic computing arrived in 2006. The data below shows which one owns the word now.

Wikipedia pageviews since 2015

Elastic (rubber band)Elastic 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

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The case for each meaning

Sourced definitions, usage stats and quotes

Original · the 1800s

Elastic (rubber band)

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Duplicate · c. 2006

Elastic computing

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More duplicated terms

Cloud & infrastructure