What Does Debug Mean?
Debug, in the context of MS-DOS, is a command that allows users to examine and alter memory content sources that occur within the operating system. The technique of giving the computer task instructions through a command line interface was originally used in MS-DOS environments to translate assembly language code into operation code, and machine language into executable (.exe) files.
The debug command allows users to examine memory contents, make changes, and then execute COM, .exe and other file types.
Techopedia Explains Debug
Microsoft first introduced the debug command in MS-DOS 1.0 as a program-testing method. Additional functionality was added and geared toward varied operational tasks, such as displaying memory portion contents, entering memory data at a specified address, running executable memory files, hexadecimal arithmetic and manipulating register memory.
The term is primarily used to refer more generally to the process of removing program bugs or errors.