transcription, транскрипция: [ ˈkə:sə ]
noun (Science and Technology) A distinctive symbol on a computer screen (such as a flashing underline or rectangle) which shows where the next character will appear or the next action will take effect, and which can usually be moved about by using a cursor key on the keyboard or a mouse. Etymology: From Latin cursor 'runner' (the agent-noun formed on the verb currere 'to run'). When first used in English (until the middle of the seventeenth century) the word meant a runner or messenger; it then came to be used for a part of a mathematical instrument, etc. that moved backwards and forwards (for example, the transparent slide with a hair-line which forms part of a slide-rule). It was a logical step to its present use in the computer age, since it is the cursor which 'runs' round the screen. History and Usage: The first uses of the word cursor in computer technology are associated with the development of a mouse in the mid sixties, although the idea had been invented (and described using other names such as marker) by John Lentz of IBM in the fifties. Even though the cursor had first been thought of in connection with mouse technology, the principle of having a cursor which was controlled using keys on the keyboard was well-established in home computing in the late seventies, before windows and mice (see WIMPÜ) became widespread. With the increased popularity of home computing and word-processing in the eighties, cursor has passed from the technical vocabulary into everyday currency. Cursor movement is particularly important in word processing, and well laid-out cursor keys are a real boon. Susan Curran Word Processing for Beginners (1984), p. 31 For home use you may not mind if the cursor is a bit slow to move on occasions. Which? Nov. 1988, p. 524