What does booting mean?
Booting is the noun form describing two distinct actions: most prominently today, the process by which a computer starts up. When a machine boots, it runs built-in firmware that checks the hardware and loads the operating system into memory, making the device ready for use. The term traces back to the idiom 'to pull oneself up by one's bootstraps', a humorous image of an impossible feat that engineers adopted because early computers appeared to start themselves through their own internal routines; 'bootstrap' was later clipped to simply 'boot'. A second, older sense of booting refers to the physical act of kicking someone or something, often as a means of forcible ejection — as when an unruly guest gets the boot. In contemporary writing, the computing meaning dominates almost entirely, appearing in phrases like 'booting up', 'cold booting', and 'the booting process'. It is neutral, widely understood vocabulary essential to anyone discussing computers or troubleshooting.
The process by which a computer initializes its hardware and loads its operating system into memory at start-up.
"Slow booting is often a sign that too many programs launch automatically at start-up."
Almost always used in computing contexts in modern English; often modified by 'cold' (a full start from powered-off state) or 'warm' (a restart without full power-down).
The act of kicking someone or something, typically to eject or drive them out.
"His repeated lateness finally earned him the booting he'd been warned about."
Informal register; far less common than the computing sense today. Often appears as part of the idiom 'get the boot' rather than the gerund form.
Every time your computer starts, it pulls itself up by its own 'bootstrap' — which is literally where the word 'booting' comes from.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of booting
The verb 'boot' in its original sense of 'to kick' dates back to the 17th century, derived from the noun 'boot', which entered English via Old French 'bote' of uncertain ultimate origin, possibly Germanic. The computing sense arose in American English in the 1950s from the idiom 'pull oneself up by one's bootstraps': programmers described the seemingly paradoxical process of a computer loading its own startup program as a 'bootstrap load', later shortened to 'boot' or 'booting'. Related forms include 'bootstrap', 'bootlace', and 'booted'.
Related word forms
How booting is actually used
In everyday modern usage 'booting' overwhelmingly refers to starting a computer; it is neutral technical vocabulary common in both informal and formal contexts. The kicking sense is older and now somewhat informal or colloquial. The computing sense derives from the phrase 'pull oneself up by one's bootstraps', shortened to 'bootstrap' and then 'boot'.
Easily confused with booting
'Booting' refers to starting a computer or kicking, while 'boosting' means increasing or improving something such as signal, morale, or sales.