router

Etymology 1

route + -er.

noun

1. Someone who routes or directs items from one location to another.
   The router directed the movement of the company's trucks.
   When the router receives the package, he places the route number on it as well as on the triplicate part of the attached salescheck. 1930, Edwin A. Godley, Alexander Kaylin, Control of Retail Store Operations, page 213
   Obviously, the production control department might consist of one man or it might occupy a score of production control experts: routers, schedulers, expediters, and dispatchers. 1963, Louis J. von Rago, Production Analysis and Control, page 476
   The system benefits include reduced delivery costs, increased vehicle use, and improved route decision making by dispatchers and routers. 1990, Mary Kay Allen, Omar Keith Helferich, Putting Expert Systems to Work in Logistics, page 66
2. (telecommunications) Any device that directs packets of information using the equivalent of Open Systems Interconnection layer 3 (network layer) information. Most commonly used in reference to Internet Protocol routers.
3. (Internet) A device that connects local area networks to form a larger internet by, at minimum, selectively passing those datagrams having a destination IP address to the network which is able to deliver them to their destination; a network gateway.
   The router was configured to forward packets outside of a certain range of IP addresses to its internet uplink port.
4. (electronics, electronic design automation) In integrated circuit or printed circuit board design, an algorithm for adding all wires needed to properly connect all of the placed components while obeying all design rules.

Etymology 2

rout + -er.

noun

1. A power tool used in carpentry for cutting grooves.
   He made an attractive edge on the table with a router.
2. A plane made like a spokeshave, for working the inside edges of circular sashes.
3. A plane with a hooked tool protruding far below the sole, for smoothing the bottom of a cavity.

verb

1. to hollow out or cut using a router power tool.
   An alternative is shown in which the carcase ends are grooved by routering. 1952, John Hooper, Percy A. Wells, Modern Cabinetwork, Furniture and Fitments, page 132
   Figures 276: 10, 11 are typical sliding flush door pulls, the former routered out, but the latter can be turned in a lathe, while 276:12 is an oblong routered version. 2000, Ernest Joyce, Alan Peters, Patrick Spielman, Encyclopedia of Furniture Making, page 290
   Routered holes may also be filled with diluted maple syrup (1 part syrup to 9 parts water) to create a sap well for sapsuckers. 2007, Laurie J. Gage, Rebecca S. Duerr, Hand-Rearing Birds, page 352