/ ˈælgərɪðəm; NAmE / noun
(especially computing ) a set of rules that must be followed when solving a particular problem
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WORD ORIGIN
late 17th cent. (denoting the Arabic or decimal notation of numbers): variant (influenced by Greek arithmos number) of Middle English algorism , via Old French from medieval Latin algorismus . The Arabic source, al-Ḵwārizmī the man of Ḵwārizm (now Khiva), was a name given to the 9th-cent. mathematician Abū Ja'far Muhammad ibn Mūsa, author of widely translated works on algebra and arithmetic.