The term \"technology\" rose to prominence in the 20th century in connection with the Second Industrial Revolution. The term\'s meanings changed in the early 20th century when American social scientists, beginning with Thorstein Veblen,13377x translated ideas from the German concept of Technik into \"technology.\" In German and other European languages, a distinction exists between technik and technologie that is absent in English, which usually translates both terms as \"technology.