University of Zurich University of Zurich University of Zurich

What does "Attempto" stand for?

No, it is not an acronym.

No, it is not a misspelling of "[an] attempt to ..." as somebody suggested.

Actually, Attempto ("I dare" in Latin) was the motto of Graf Eberhard im Barte ("Duke Eberhard the Bearded") who in 1477 founded the University of Tubingen, Germany. More than five-hundred years later, Attempto was the motto of Norbert E. Fuchs — a graduate of the University of Tubingen — when he started the Attempto project at the University of Zurich in 1995 — defying "has been tried, can't be done" statements of computerlinguistics big shots.

last updated: 14 Sep 2018 [back to top | home]