byte
1 synonym for byte, grouped by meaning and by how common each one is.
Noun — A unit of computer storage equal to eight bits, able to represent 256 different values.
Synonyms
Rare, literary or technical
Precise, but they will stand out — check the sense before using one.
How to use byte
The word patterns that sound natural to a native speaker.
a few bytes
bytes of data
one byte at a time
It is a technical computing term but is familiar to most people through file sizes.
Etymology
Werner Buchholz coined it in 1956 during early design work on the IBM 7030 Stretch computer. It is an alteration of the word bite, respelled so nobody would mistake it for bit by accident.
Full origin of byte →Frequently asked questions
How many bits are in a byte?
Most commonly a byte is eight bits, which can represent 256 different values.
Who invented the word byte?
Werner Buchholz coined it in 1956, while working on the early design of the IBM 7030 Stretch computer.
Why is byte spelled with a y?
Werner Buchholz changed the spelling of bite to byte so it could not easily be mistyped as bit.
