V.E.R.A. -- Virtual Entity of Relevant Acronyms (February 2016):
TTY
TeleTYpe
The Jargon File (version 4.4.7, 29 Dec 2003):
tty
/T?T?Y/, /tit'ee/, n.
The latter pronunciation was primarily ITS, but some Unix people say it
this way as well; this pronunciation is not considered to have sexual
undertones.
1. A terminal of the teletype variety, characterized by a noisy mechanical
printer, a very limited character set, and poor print quality. Usage:
antiquated (like the TTYs themselves). See also bit-paired keyboard.
2. [especially Unix] Any terminal at all; sometimes used to refer to the
particular terminal controlling a given job.
3. [Unix] Any serial port, whether or not the device connected to it is a
terminal; so called because under Unix such devices have names of the form
tty*. Ambiguity between senses 2 and 3 is common but seldom bothersome.
The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing (30 December 2018):
tty
/tit'ee/ (ITS pronunciation, but some Unix
people say it this way as well; this pronunciation is not
considered to have sexual undertones), /T T Y/
1. teletypewriter.
2. (Especially Unix) Any terminal at all; sometimes used to
refer to the particular terminal controlling a given job (it
is also the name of a Unix command which outputs the name of
the current controlling terminal).
3. (Unix) Any serial port, whether or not the device
connected to it is a terminal; so called because under Unix
such devices have names of the form tty*. Ambiguity between
senses 2 and 3 is common but seldom bothersome.
4. A TDD.
[Jargon File]
(1995-11-23)