Linux definition

Etymology

From the name of its creator, Linus Torvalds, influenced by the term Unix. The original name of Linux was Freax, combining the words Free and Unix, and referring to phreaking. The administrator of the server on which Linux was first held didn't like the connection to phreaking, so Torvalds changed the name to Linux.

Proper noun

A free Unix-like operating system kernel created by Linus Torvalds and released under the GNU General Public License.
One of any number of systems that uses Linux as its kernel.

Usage notes

In the sense of "one of any number of systems that uses Linux as its kernel", some prefer the term GNU/Linux.