bytes
English meaning: Bytes
Definition
A short sequence of bits (binary digits) that can be operated on as a unit by a computer; the smallest usable machine word.
Example
“This tiny text file is only a few hundred bytes in size.”
Another example: “The program reads the file a few bytes at a time.”
Usage — When, Where & How
A computing plural noun for units of digital information, each usually made of eight bits ('the file is 500 bytes'). Used with size prefixes (kilobytes, megabytes, gigabytes). Technical register.
Etymology & Origin
English — Origin & History
Coined in 1956 by IBM engineer Werner Buchholz, a deliberate respelling of 'bite' (to avoid confusion with 'bit'), meaning a group of bits.
Synonyms
- units
Related Words
Common Collocations
- a few bytes
- number of bytes
- bytes per second
- null bytes
- raw bytes
- read the bytes
Word Forms
byte (n); bytes (pl)
Word Tools
Literary Heritage
“To thine own self be true, and it must follow, as the night the day, thou canst not then be false to any man.”
/To thine own self be true/
“Be honest with yourself — and as naturally as night follows day, you will be unable to be false to others.”
“I'm nobody! Who are you? Are you nobody, too?”
/I'm nobody! Who are you?/
“I am nobody — and that quiet anonymity is more honest than the noise of public fame.”
Images
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Language information
- Language
- English
- English
- Script
- Latin
- Family
- Indo-European
- Speakers
- 1.5B