What was the original name of Microsoft Word before it was renamed?

Microsoft Word was originally called Multi-Tool Word. Microsoft first released it on October 25, 1983, initially for the Xenix operating system, before the shorter Microsoft Word name became standard.

The program was developed after Microsoft hired Charles Simonyi, who had worked on Bravo, an influential graphical word processor created at Xerox PARC. Simonyi began building Multi-Tool Word and brought in Richard Brodie, who became its primary software engineer. The design emphasized mouse use, an unusual choice for many MS-DOS programs of the period.

Microsoft soon released versions for MS-DOS and other platforms. Demonstration copies were distributed with the November 1983 issue of PC World, making Word one of the earliest software products distributed on a magazine disk. It was also promoted alongside the Microsoft Mouse, reinforcing the program’s early graphical and WYSIWYG-style ambitions. Word later expanded to Macintosh, Windows, and many modern platforms.