byte etymology

Etymology

The word "byte" is derived from the term "bite," which refers to the amount of data that could be transferred at once by a computer.

Meaning

A byte is a unit of digital information represented by a binary number of fixed width, usually 8 bits (eight binary digits or one octet). It is the smallest addressable unit of data in a computer system.

Origin

The term "byte" was first used in 1956 by Werner Buchholz, an engineer at IBM, as a way to measure the amount of memory capacity in a computer system. The size of a byte was originally defined as 6 bits, but it was later standardized to 8 bits in 1975.

Other Uses

• In data storage, bytes are combined to form larger units of information, such as kilobytes (KB), megabytes (MB), gigabytes (GB), and terabytes (TB).
• In networking, bytes are used to measure the amount of data transmitted or received over a network connection.
• In computing performance, bytes per second (B/s) is often used to measure the speed of data transfer or processing.

byte relate terms

• gigabyte

• giga

  Etymology The word giga derives from Greek gigas γίγας meaning giant Mea

• byte

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• word

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• asylum

  Etymology Greek ἄσυλον ásulos meaning unplundered or inviolable Latin

• orphan

• contrite

  Etymology Latin contritus past participle of conterere to rub together crush grind

• proverb

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• loyalty

  Etymology Old French leauté Latin legalitas legality faithfulness Latin lex

• answer

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• ampersand

  Etymology The ampersand symbol amp is a ligature a combination of two or more lette

• thalamus

  Etymology The term thalamus comes from the Ancient Greek word θάλαμος thalamos

• soul

  Etymology The word soul traces its origins to the Proto Indo European root h₂enh₂