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Original · left

Spill (liquid)

An accidental knocking over of a drinking glass, slopping liquid across a tabletop or carpet.

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

Register spill

An event where a compiler exhausts its high-speed processor registers and is forced to dump register variables into slower RAM.

First in use: the 1960s

Spill / Spill (liquid) / Register spill

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

Knocked-over drinks vs. register pressure.

Which meaning of Spill is the original, and which one is the duplicate riding on its name? Spill (liquid) came first (ancient / pre-modern). Register spill arrived in the 1960s. The data below shows which one owns the word now.

Wikipedia pageviews since 2015

Spill (liquid)Register spill
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

Spill (liquid)

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Duplicate · the 1960s

Register spill

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More duplicated terms

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