What does configuration mean?
Configuration refers to the particular way in which the parts of something are arranged or organized — the shape, pattern, or set-up that a system, object, or group takes. It can describe anything from the seating configuration of an aircraft cabin to the molecular configuration of a chemical compound, but today it is perhaps most often encountered in computing, where it denotes the specific settings and components that define how a machine or program operates. The word carries a neutral, somewhat formal tone and appears frequently in technical documentation, engineering, and science. Related forms include the verb 'configure' and the adjective 'configurable', reflecting how central the idea has become in an age of customizable technology. To change a configuration is to rearrange or reset the structure of something without necessarily altering its fundamental nature — only its arrangement.
An arrangement of parts or elements in a specific form, figure, or combination; the resulting set-up or structure.
"The aircraft's seating configuration can be modified for different routes."
In chemistry and physics, the term has a stricter technical sense referring to the fixed spatial arrangement of atoms in a molecule.
In computing, the complete set of hardware components and software settings that define a system as it is currently set up.
"Back up your configuration before installing the update."
The plural is standard when referring to multiple distinct arrangements or set-ups, e.g., different configurations of the same machine.
"The software supports several different network configurations."
Every time you tweak a setting on your phone, you're doing something Latin speakers would have called 'figuring' — literally giving it a shape (figura).
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of configuration
Configuration derives from the Latin verb configurare, meaning 'to fashion after a shape', formed from com- ('together') plus figura ('shape, form'). It entered English in the mid-16th century, initially carrying the general sense of shape or outward form before developing its modern emphasis on arrangement. It shares its root with words such as 'figure', 'figurative', and 'disfigure', all tracing back to figura.
Related word forms
How configuration is actually used
Formal to neutral in register; extremely common in technical and scientific writing. The computing sense is now arguably as frequent as the general sense. The plural 'configurations' is used when referring to multiple possible arrangements; in chemistry, 'configuration' has a precise technical meaning regarding the fixed spatial arrangement of atoms that should not be casually generalized.
Easily confused with configuration
Confirmation means verification or proof that something is true, while configuration refers to how something is arranged or set up.