What does "architect" mean?

1. (building designer) a person whose job is to design buildings and make sure they are built correctly. 2. (creator of a plan) the person who creates a plan or a big idea. 3. (to design or plan) to design or organize something complex, like a computer system or a plan.

architect

n. · v.

US //ˈɑɹkəˌtɛkt// UK //ˈɑːkɪtˌɛkt// ar·chi·tect

1 building designer (n.)
A2 Elementary

a person whose job is to design buildings and make sure they are built correctly.

a professional qualified to design buildings and oversee their construction.

Example

The architect showed us the drawings for our new house yesterday.

Example

The lead architect insisted on visiting the construction site weekly to ensure the contractor followed the structural specifications exactly.
- designer
- planner
2 creator of a plan (n.)
B2 Upper Intermediate

the person who creates a plan or a big idea.

the person responsible for planning or creating a complex idea, event, or system. Often used in political or historical contexts.

Example

She was the main architect of the company's new success.

Example

Historians generally regard him as the primary architect of the peace treaty that ended the decade-long conflict.

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3 to design or plan (v.)
C1 Advanced Technical Academic Computing

to design or organize something complex, like a computer system or a plan.

to design, plan, or orchestrate a complex structure or system. Transitive; frequently used in technical or corporate environments.

Example

The team needs to architect a better way to store all this data.

Example

The senior engineers spent months trying to architect a software solution that could handle millions of simultaneous users without crashing.

Origin

From Middle French architecte, from Latin architectus, from Ancient Greek ἀρχιτέκτων (arkhitéktōn, “master builder”), from ἀρχι- (arkhi-, “chief”) + τέκτων (téktōn, “builder”). By surface analysis, archi- + -tect.