a HackerNoon project
Original · left

Shell (casing)

The rigid, calcified outer protective casing enclosing a turtle, mollusk, or avian egg.

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

Shell (computing)

A command-line or visual interpreter exposing operating system kernel capabilities to human users and scripts.

First in use: c. 1964

Shell / Shell (casing) / Shell (computing)

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

The beach vs. the command line.

Which meaning of Shell is the original, and which one is the duplicate riding on its name? Shell (casing) came first (ancient / pre-modern). Shell (computing) arrived in 1964. The data below shows which one owns the word now.

Wikipedia pageviews since 2015

Shell (casing)Shell (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

Shell (casing)

Loading the Wikipedia definition…

12-mo pageviews—
Year over year—
Peak month—
Duplicate · c. 1964

Shell (computing)

Loading the Wikipedia definition…

12-mo pageviews—
Year over year—
Peak month—

More duplicated terms

Programming & software