I've been wondering about the origin and etymology of the term "macro" as it is used in programming. The general use for it is to mean something large - the opposite of "micro" - but it didn't seem to fit for the concept it's used for.

Luckily, the Online Etymology Dictionary came to my rescue:

"As a stand-alone word, in computer programming, meaning "a macro-instruction," it is attested from 1959. "

Cool.

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