What is the difference between a disc and a disk?

[richlevy]

What is the difference between a disc and a disk? Is it the difference between shoppe and shop or is there some meaningful accepted distinction?

[Pie]

According to Apple:

Summary

They're pronounced the same, but, technically speaking, there is a distinct difference between a disc and a disk.

Products Affected

Mac OS

Discs

A disc refers to optical media, such as an audio CD, CD-ROM, DVD-ROM, DVD-RAM, or DVD-Video disc. Some discs are read-only (ROM), others allow you to burn content (write files) to the disc once (such as a CD-R or DVD-R, unless you do a multisession burn), and some can be erased and rewritten over many times (such as CD-RW, DVD-RW, and DVD-RAM discs).
All discs are removable, meaning when you unmount or eject the disc from your desktop or Finder, it physically comes out of your computer.
Disks

A disk refers to magnetic media, such as a floppy disk, the disk in your computer's hard drive, an external hard drive. Disks are always rewritable unless intentionally locked or write-protected. You can easily partition a disk into several smaller volumes, too.
Disks are usually sealed inside a metal or plastic casing (often, a disk and its enclosing mechanism are collectively known as a "hard drive").

[richlevy]

Originally Posted by Pie

According to Apple:

I thought about that, but on Wiki they don't make the distinction and I'm not sure from my reading if that has always held true. Of course, most optical media is referred to by name (CD, DVD), so it's hard to judge. I'm a big fan of Terry Pratchett's Discworld series, so I've always wondered if it's a British variant thing, like colour instead of color.

[Pie]

Originally Posted by richlevy

I thought about that, but on Wiki they don't make the distinction and I'm not sure from my reading if that has always held true. Of course, most optical media is referred to by name (CD, DVD), so it's hard to judge. I'm a big fan of Terry Pratchett's Discworld series, so I've always wondered if it's a British variant thing, like colour instead of color.

Well, here's another wiki source [em is mine]:

By the 20th century, the c-spelling was more popular in British English, while the k-spelling was preferred in American English. In the 1950s, when the American company IBM pioneered the first hard disk drive storage devices, the k-spelling was used. Consequently, in computer jargon today it is common for the k-spelling to refer mainly to magnetic storage devices (particularly in British English, where the term disk is sometimes regarded as a contraction of diskette, a much later word and actually a diminutive of disk). Disc may also be spelt disque in certain regions (notably those with another minority language such as Wales, France or Ireland).
Some latter-day storage device manufacturers prefer the c-spelling. In 1979 the Dutch company Philips, along with Sony, developed the compact disc medium; here, the c-spelling was chosen. The c-spelling is now used consistently for optical media such as the compact disc and similar technologies.[3]

[Clodfobble]

Pie's writeup is the answer I came here to give, but she already gave it. Outside of technology, "disc" is always the correct version (e.g., Discworld) because that's how the Latin root is spelled. I don't really know where the word disk-with-a-k came from, but I was taught long ago that it referred specifically to rewritable, magnetic data.

[Flint]

Originally Posted by Clodfobble

I don't really know where the word disk-with-a-k came from, ...

Short for diskette. I prefer disc as it is not a "slang" version of another word.

[Sundae]

I will bow to expert knowledge. But I admit I thought it was a Brit/ American thing. Less like color and colour and more like program and programme (ie more recently decided).

[ZenGum]

Two points in scrabble.

[skysidhe]

Originally Posted by ZenGum

Two points in scrabble.

He has a point. The only useful info so far.

[xoxoxoBruce]

Hey now, this be the Cellar... we don't need no stinkin' useful information...














we can amuse ourselves with most any old information. Matter of fact, we can get mileage out of bare faced lies.

[Clodfobble]

Originally Posted by Flint

Short for diskette. I prefer disc as it is not a "slang" version of another word.

Even though "diskette" is a completely made-up corporate word, like McDisks?

[Flint]

Originally Posted by Flint

Short for diskette. I prefer disc as it is not a "slang" version of another word.

Originally Posted by Clodfobble

Even though "diskette" is a completely made-up corporate word, like McDisks?

Right. I prefer disc as it is not a "slang" version of a completely made-up corporate word.

[spudcon]

For geezers, please remember disc jockeys referred to 45 RPM discs.

[richlevy]

Speaking of geezers, since I'm one, since medicine prefers latin and greek, is it 'slipped disk' or 'slipped disc'?

[Cloud]

These are discs. Okay, there are a couple of balls in there, too. (2d try)