English 'blockchain' (2008) is a transparent compound of 'block' (from Dutch/Low German 'blok,' a log) and 'chain' (from Latin 'catēna,' a fetter) — and the same Latin 'catēna' also produced 'concatenate,' which describes precisely what a blockchain does: chaining blocks together.
A system of recording information in a way that makes it difficult to change or hack, using a growing list of records (blocks) linked together using cryptography.
A compound of 'block' + 'chain.' The concept was described in 2008 by the pseudonymous Satoshi Nakamoto in the Bitcoin white paper, though Nakamoto used 'block' and 'chain' as separate words. The compound 'blockchain' was popularized by 2014–2016. 'Block' from Middle English 'blok,' from Old French 'bloc' (a log, a block), from Middle Dutch or Middle Low German 'blok.' 'Chain' from Old French 'chaïne,' from Latin 'catēna' (a chain, a fetter). Key
Latin 'catēna' (chain) also produced 'concatenate' (to chain together) — which is exactly what a blockchain does. The programming term 'concatenation' and the cryptocurrency term 'blockchain' describe the same operation through different metaphors derived from the same Latin word for fetters and chains.