Sense file
How the sense moved
The archive follows the dated record first, then reads the social or rhetorical pressure that hardened, softened, narrowed, or reversed the word.
Older meaning
A current of water or anything flowing continuously.
Modern meaning
A continuous digital flow of audio, video, or data; also a flow of water.
Research lens
The technical sense works because the older word was already broad enough to describe any continuous flow, not just water.
Meaning trail
Root
flow
Movement in one direction defines the word from the start.
Bridge
continuous current of anything
The metaphor widened before software adopted it.
Now
digital transmission flow
Media and data ride the older current image.