A finite sequence of steps that reliably produces a result. An algorithm encodes a decision someone made, and hides that they made it.
Medieval Latin algorismus, from the Arabic name al-Khwarizmi, the 9th-century Persian mathematician whose treatise on Hindu-Arabic numerals carried his name into Europe; a finite sequence of steps that encodes a decision someone made.
A finite sequence of steps that reliably produces a result, encoding a decision someone made and hiding that they made it.