Punched Card - Nomenclature

Nomenclature

The terms punched card, punch card, and punchcard were all commonly used, as were IBM card and Hollerith card (after Herman Hollerith). IBM used "IBM card" or, later, "punched card" at first mention in its documentation and thereafter simply "card" or "cards". The term punched card was generally avoided for blank cards, with other terms such as tabulating card, or tab card used. Specific formats were often indicated by the number of character positions available, e.g. 80-column card.