Why is the strategy pattern called the strategy pattern?

Question

Of course you can regard it as a kind of strategy, but that applies to almost all the design patterns. So : why?

Answer 1

Because some of the components implement strategies, "ways to achieve something".

The point of the strategy pattern is to let you choose a way of doing something, a "strategy", at runtime.

The name doesn't refer to the pattern as a whole, it refers to the objects within the pattern that perform actions.

Answer 2

The idea behind the strategy pattern is that "algorithms can be selected at runtime." (Wikipedia, Strategy Pattern) The pattern, in essence, is selecting the right strategy (or behavior) for solving a particular problem at runtime. Hence, it's name.