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Original · left

Garbage (waste)

Decomposing food waste, domestic refuse, and disposable detritus discarded into bins.

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

Garbage (computer science)

Objects and blocks of system memory that were dynamically allocated by code but are no longer accessible or referenced.

First in use: c. 1959

Garbage / Garbage (waste) / Garbage (computer science)

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

Trash day vs. the garbage collector.

Which meaning of Garbage is the original, and which one is the duplicate riding on its name? Garbage (waste) came first (ancient / pre-modern). Garbage (computer science) arrived in 1959. The data below shows which one owns the word now.

Wikipedia pageviews since 2015

Garbage (waste)Garbage (computer science)
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

Garbage (waste)

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Duplicate · c. 1959

Garbage (computer science)

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More duplicated terms

Programming & software