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Original · left

Recycling

Collecting and reprocessing scrap cardboard, glass bottles, and plastics into new raw manufacturing goods.

First in use: the 1920s
Duplicate · right

Recycle (computing)

Reclaiming dynamically freed memory addresses or restarting aging server worker processes to clear memory fragmentation.

First in use: the 1990s

Recycle / Recycling / Recycle (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

Bottles vs. app-pool recycling.

Which meaning of Recycle is the original, and which one is the duplicate riding on its name? Recycling came first (the 1920s). Recycle (computing) arrived in the 1990s. The data below shows which one owns the word now.

Wikipedia pageviews since 2015

RecyclingRecycle (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 · the 1920s

Recycling

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Duplicate · the 1990s

Recycle (computing)

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More duplicated terms

Programming & software