

Short answer:
Ctrl stands for "Control Key". It to be originally supplied to send control personalities to terminals.Alt stands for "Alternate Key". It"s named so because it enables alternate offers for various other keys.
You are watching: What does alt stand for on keyboard
Long answer: check out Wikipedia:
Control Key
Alt Key


Ctrl goes means back to the earliest days of computing and was used for beginning ASCII control characters on one ASR33 teletype maker (similar come the people you view in movies in the newsroom that make so lot noise). They could run at the blinding speed of 110 baud (or about 10 characters/second).
As much as the Alt key goes, I an initial saw the on the initial IBM PC. It"s main use then was the "three finger salute," or Ctrl+Alt+Delete.
A pair of interesting, and relevant articles with respect to control characters:
Control Character
Teleprinter
ASCII
share
boost this answer
monitor
edited may 29 "13 in ~ 16:19

Linger
3,2061010 gold badges3131 silver badges4343 bronze badges
reply Aug 12 "10 in ~ 1:26
BillP3rdBillP3rd
5,91111 gold badge2828 silver badges3939 bronze badges
2
include a comment |
3
The "Control" part comes native "carriage control". The platten (round rubber cylinder that keys bounce on) moves ago and forth and up and also down on a "carriage" in a typewriter and the teletype mimics a typewriter. However, in a usual teletype the platten just rotates and also the publish head only moves ago and forth. However in those job you gained so tired pushing the KSR-33 teletype keys down that any kind of abuse of the English language was lengthy forgotten.
re-publishing
enhance this answer
monitor
edited Aug 12 "10 at 19:01
answered Aug 12 "10 at 1:49
hoteihotei
3,65522 yellow badges1717 silver- badges2424 bronze badges
1
include a comment |
her Answer
Thanks for contributing an answer to super User!
Please be sure to answer the question. Provide details and also share your research!But avoid …
Asking for help, clarification, or responding to various other answers.Making statements based on opinion; earlier them up with references or personal experience.To learn more, watch our advice on writing good answers.
See more: What Does Indirect Mean In Science, Direct And Indirect Interactions
Draft saved
Draft discarded
Sign up or log in in
sign up using Google
sign up making use of Facebook
sign up using Email and Password
send
Post together a guest
name
email Required, yet never shown
Post together a guest
name
Required, however never shown
write-up Your prize Discard
By click “Post her Answer”, girlfriend agree come our regards to service, privacy policy and also cookie plan
Not the answer you're feather for? Browse various other questions tagged key-board ctrl alt or ask your very own question.
The Overflow Blog
Featured on Meta
Linked
24
Why room the tricks named Ctrl & Alt?
associated
1
alt keys stopped working on X11, how to fix?
50
Italian keyboard: entering tilde (~) and backtick (`) personalities without transforming keyboard layout
0
Inconsistent English-International Keyboard behavior
0
unable to obtain iHome Bluetooth key-board working correctly with macOS
warm Network questions more hot concerns
question feed
subscribe to RSS
question feed To subscribe to this RSS feed, copy and also paste this URL right into your RSS reader.
super User
firm
ridge Exchange Network
site architecture / logo © 2021 ridge Exchange Inc; user contributions license is granted under cc by-sa. Rev2021.10.27.40576
Super User works finest with JavaScript permitted

her privacy
By click “Accept all cookies”, you agree stack Exchange can store cookies on your maker and disclose details in accordance through our Cookie Policy.