Altavista

Definition

An early web search engine launched in 1995 that was one of the first to index a large portion of the internet; it was a dominant search tool during the late 1990s before being surpassed by Google.

Example Usage

Before Google existed, people typed their queries into Altavista to search the web.

Origin

Spanish phrase meaning 'high view', reflecting its goal of comprehensive web indexing from a broad perspective.

Fun Fact

Altavista was acquired by Yahoo in 2003 and eventually shut down in 2013, representing another casualty of the search engine wars won by Google.

Source: Definition backfill (hailey)

Related Terms

Intermediate

axles

The hardworking spindles that let your wheels actually turn instead of just sitting there judging your engineering. The unsung heroes of mechanical motion—boring, essential, never mentioned in pitches.

💻 Tech / IT

Beginner

rotate

To spin, turn, or advance through a sequence—especially when aircraft do that dramatic nose-lift thing right before takeoff that makes your stomach do backflips. Pilots call it rotating; physics calls it defying gravity for a moment; everyone's seatbelts call it showtime.

💻 Tech / IT

Beginner

coin return

A slot or compartment on a vending machine, payphone, or similar device where coins are dispensed if the transaction is cancelled or if overpayment occurs. Users retrieve their money by opening or tapping the return slot.

💻 Tech / IT

Intermediate

buses

Those metal tubes packed with humans and regret, or in tech-speak, the electrical highway where your data gets a commute to process town.

💻 Tech / IT

Beginner

Roblox

An online platform and game creation system where users can play millions of user-generated games, create and share their own games using Roblox Studio, and participate in a virtual economy using Robux currency.

💻 Tech / IT

Beginner

wire

In startup-land, this is what carries your funding dreams (or electrical current, if you're boring). A thin metal conductor that either powers your gadgets or becomes the medium through which VCs send you rejection emails at the speed of light.

💻 Tech / IT

Translate This Term

See “Altavista” in Corporate Speak, Gen-Z Slang, Pirate Speak, and more.

Try the Translator

Share This Term

Post on X Share on Facebook Share on LinkedIn

Discover a Term

Beginner

Wiwwy

What is wrong with you...