[[信頼性]]（Reliability）がはじめに文献にでたのは、[[2006__Reliability Engineering and System Safety__Highlights from the Early (and pre-) History of Reliability Engineering]]によると、英国ロマン主義運動を起こした詩人サミュエル・T・コールリッジが1816年のことである、とされている。 > “He inflicts none of those small pains and discomforts which irregular men scatter about them and which in the aggregate so often become formidable obstacles both to happiness and utility; while on the contrary he bestows all the pleasures, and inspires all that ease of mind on those around him or connected with him, with perfect consistency, and (if such a word might be framed) absolute **reliability**.”