Editing Motherboard (section)

==Nomenclature==
''[[Oxford English Dictionary]]'' traces the origin of the word ''motherboard'' to 1965, their earliest-found attestation occuring in the magazine ''[[Electronics (magazine)|Electronics]]''.<ref>{{cite web | date=n.d. | url=https://www.oed.com/dictionary/motherboard_n | title=motherboard, n. | work=Oxford English Dictionary | publisher=Oxford University Press | archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20250503104421/https://www.oed.com/dictionary/motherboard_n | archivedate=May 3, 2025}}</ref> The term alludes to its importance and size compared to the components attached to it, being the "mother of all boards" in a computer system.<ref name=wlr92>{{cite book | last=Rosch | first=Winn L. | date=1992 | title=The Winn L. Rosch Hardware Bible | publisher=Brady | page=28 | isbn=0139322604 | edition=1st | via=Google Books}}</ref>

A number of gender-neutral alternatives for ''motherboard'' sprang up starting in the 1980s. These include ''mainboard'', ''system board'', ''logic board'', ''baseboard'', and ''mobo'', among others. ''System board'' was used by [[IBM]] in their documentation for the [[IBM PC]] and its derivatives—excluding higher-end models of the [[PS/2]] line such as the [[IBM PS/2 Model 80|Model 80]], for which they preferred the term ''planar''. ''Logic board'' is used chiefly by [[Apple Inc.|Apple]] in the documentation of their computers, including the [[Apple II]] and the [[Mac (computer)|Mac]]. ''Baseboard'' is used by [[Intel]] in their technical manuals, although they sometimes also use the word ''motherboard'' interchangeably.<ref name=wlr99>{{cite book | last=Rosch | first=Winn L. | date=1992 | title=The Winn L. Rosch Hardware Bible | publisher=Brady | isbn=0789717433 | edition=5th | via=Google Books}}</ref>{{rp|53}} ''Mobo'' is a slang truncation of ''motherboard'' coined by enthusiast computer builders in the 1990s.<ref>{{cite magazine | last=Phillips | first=Jon | date=November 2003 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SQIAAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA10 | title=And Did You Know That 'Hobo' Stands for 'Homeward Bound'? | work=Maximum PC | publisher=Future Publishing | page=10 | via=Google Books}}</ref>

The term ''mainboard'' sometimes describes a device with a single board and no additional expansions or capability, such as controlling boards in [[laser printer]]s, [[television]] sets, [[washing machine]]s, [[mobile phone]]s, and other [[embedded system]]s with limited expansion abilities.{{cn|date=May 2025}}