本文对物理学中的规范理论作了通俗介绍，然后讨论物理学中“规范”一词的起源. 规范本来是尺子或者测度标准的意思. 经典电磁学中使用“规范”一词是在外尔1928 ～ 1929 年提出电磁场中量子带电粒子的规范原理之后. 如果不是因为外尔曾经于1918 ～ 1919 年作过失败的尝试，试图从时空中平行移动导致的尺度变化来导出电磁矢量势，那么后来人们就不会将“规范”一词用于电磁矢量势. 本文也梳理薛定谔、福克和伦敦的贡献.

We make a popular introduction to the gauge theories in physics，and then we discuss the origin of the word“gauge”used in physics. Originally，gauge means ruler or calibration standard. The use of“gauge”in classical electromagnetism started after Hermann Weyl had presented the gauge theory of a quantum charged particle coupled with an electromagnetic field in 1928 ～ 1929. If Weyl had not made a failed attempt in 1918 ～ 1919，trying to deduce electromagnetic vector potential through the scale change induced by parallel transport in spacetime， there would not have been the use of the word“gauge”for electromagnetic vector potential. We also review the contributions of Schrdinger，Fock and London.