A simple question, so to re-iterate the title:
Why is a "field" on a form called a field?
A quick search for the etymology results in:
Old English feld "plain, open land" (as opposed to woodland), also "a
parcel of land marked off and used for pasture or tillage," probably
related to Old English folde "earth, land," from Proto-Germanic
*felthuz "flat land" (common West Germanic, cf. Old Saxon and Old Frisian feld "field," Old Saxon folda "earth," Middle Dutch velt,
Dutch veld Old High German felt, German Feld "field," but not found
outside it; Swedish fält, Danish felt are borrowed from German), from
PIE *pel(e)-tu-, from root *pele- (2) "flat, to spread" (see plane
(n.1)).Finnish pelto "field" is believed to have been adapted from
Proto-Germanic. The English spelling with -ie- probably is the work of
Anglo-French scribes (cf. brief, piece). Collective use for "all
engaged in a sport" (or, in horseracing, all but the favorite) is
1742; play the field "avoid commitment" (1936) is from notion of
gamblers betting on other horses than the favorite. Field glasses
attested by 1836.
No mention of its use in forms?
Best Answer
My Glossary of Computing Terms: An Introduction (pub BCS, 1984) says
which covers forms as well.
OED shows the origin is surprisingly early:
Data field was apparently first mentioned in a patent:
It's a fairly small step to extend other earlier uses to reach the above meanings:
or even