CTO

American

Or C.T.O.

abbreviation

chief technology officer; chief technical officer: an executive in an organization who oversees policies and decisions relating to technology and science.

CTO British

abbreviation

cancelled to order (of postage stamps); postmarked in sheets for private sale

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of CTO

First recorded in 1985–90

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Additionally, Nvidia has “made a significant investment” in the company, it said, which was founded and is led by former OpenAI CTO Mira Murati.

From MarketWatch • Mar. 10, 2026

The companies that we’ve seen be the most successful with AI are the companies where the CEO cares a lot, and it’s not just the CTO or the CIO.

From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 29, 2025

Dr. Phillip Aitchison, CTO of the Monash University spinout Ionic Industries and a co-author of the study, noted that efforts to commercialize the technology are already underway.

From Science Daily • Dec. 1, 2025

Under a CTO, if a patient stops taking their medication or misses too many appointments, they can immediately be recalled to hospital.

From BBC • Aug. 14, 2024

CTO Rathi Murthy and Sreenivas Rachamadugu, senior vice president, core services product & engineering, are no longer employed at the Seattle-headquartered company, Expedia said Friday in a statement, without disclosing further details.

From Seattle Times • May 22, 2024

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023