From the Wikipedia page for dynamic programming: The word dynamic was chosen by Bellman to capture the time-varying aspect of the problems, and because it soun

From the Wikipedia page for dynamic programming: The word dynamic was chosen by Bellman to capture the time-varying aspect of the problems, and because it sounded impressive.[11] The word programming referred to the use of the method to find an optimal program, in the sense of a military schedule for training or logistics. This usage is the same as that in the phrases linear programming and mathematical programming, a synonym for mathematical optimization. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dynamic_programming#History https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dynamic_programming#History