Meaning & use
byte in computer
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Meaning
nouncountablecomputing
A unit of computer memory or data, usually made of eight bits, enough to store one character such as a letter or number.
Grammar: Countable: 'one byte', 'two bytes'. Often used in compounds like 'megabyte'.
Patterns
- a byte of data
- X bytes of memory
A single byte in a computer can represent one letter, like 'A' or 'z'.
This image file is about 2 million bytes in size.
The program uses only a few bytes of memory to store the user's name.
Word forms
| plural | bytes |
|---|
Common combinations
- a byte of data
- Each byte of data is processed by the CPU.
- bytes of memory
- The old computer had only 64 kilobytes of memory.
- byte size
- Check the byte size of the file before uploading it.
Synonyms and how they differ
- character
- In computing, a character is a single letter or symbol; a byte is the unit of storage, which often holds one character.
Word family
Commonly confused: byte in computer or bit?
byte in computer vs bit
A bit is the smallest unit of data (0 or 1); a byte is usually made of eight bits.
Practice
How many bits are typically in one byte?
Choose one answer.
A standard byte contains eight bits. Four bits is a nibble; 16 and 32 are larger groupings.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “byte in computer”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.