QWERTY
[ kwur-tee, kwer- ]
/ ˈkwɜr ti, ˈkwɛr- /
adjective
of or relating to a keyboard having the keys in traditional typewriter arrangement, with the letters q, w, e, r, t, and y being the first six of the top row of alphabetic characters, starting from the left side.
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What Does QWERTY Stand For?Most of us take our keyboards for granted. If we’re touch typists, we automatically position our fingers above the same eight keys and our muscle memory takes over. We just type! (What are those eight keys called? And what do they have to do with a popular Google search? Read about that here.) But our keyboards have an interesting history. Most English language keyboards have …
Compare Dvorak Keyboard.
Origin of QWERTY
First recorded in 1925–30
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019
British Dictionary definitions for qwerty
qwerty
QWERTY keyboard
/ (ˈkwɜːtɪ) /
noun
the standard English language typewriter keyboard layout with the characters q, w, e, r, t, and y positioned on the top row of alphabetic characters at the left side of the keyboard
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
Word Origin and History for qwerty
qwerty
1929, from the first six keys on a standard typewriter keyboard, read as though text, from top left. Mechanical typewriter patented 1867; the QWERTY layout itself is said to date to 1887, dominant in U.S. from early 20c.; it is not meant to slow down typists, but to separate the letters in common digraphs (-sh-, -ck-, etc.) to reduce jamming of swing-arms in old-style machines. It actually speeds typing by requiring alternate-hand strokes, which is one reason the alternative DVORAK keyboard is not appreciably faster. Remnants of the original alphabetic typewriter keyboard remain in the second row of letter keys: FGH-JKL. The French standard was AZERTY; in Germany, QWERTZ; in Italy, QZERTY.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper