Learn English – Why is a “field” on a form called a field

etymologynouns

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

Field is a predetermined section of a record

which covers forms as well.

OED shows the origin is surprisingly early:

19. Computing. Any one of a number of places where a user is expected to enter a single item of a particular type of data; an item of such data; esp. one in a database record. Cf. data field n. at data n.

Originally a group of columns on a punched card.

1903 Jrnl. Polit. Econ. 11 372 The fields are to be punched in the regular order by touching the keys indicated from left to right.

Data field was apparently first mentioned in a patent:

data field n. a section of a record, esp. in a database, in which an item of data is entered; each of the particular types of data held in a database.

1929 Brit. Patent 302,314 9/9 A previous inventory perforated strip P1, the separate data fields of which give, inter alia, the following data [etc.].

It's a fairly small step to extend other earlier uses to reach the above meanings:

10. a. An enclosed or marked-out area [for playing sport]

or even

II. An area of operation or observation.
12. a. An area or sphere of action, enquiry, or interest; a (wider or narrower) range of opportunities, or of objects, for activity or consideration; a theme, a subject. Freq. with of.
b. As a mass noun: scope, opportunity; extent of material for some specified action or operation. Freq. with for.
c. A particular branch of study or area of expertise or competence; a subject. Also more fully field of study.