Princeton's WordNet

1. byte(noun)

   a sequence of 8 bits (enough to represent one character of alphanumeric data) processed as a single unit of information

Kernerman English Learner's Dictionary

1. byte(noun)ˈaɪt

   a unit of computer information or storage

Wiktionary

1. byte(Noun)

   A sequence of adjacent bits (binary digits) that can be operated on as a unit by a computer; the smallest usable machine word; nearly always eight bits, which can represent an integer from 0 to 255 or a single character of text.

2. byte(Noun)

   A unit of computing storage equal to eight bits

   The word u201Chellou201D fits into five bytes of ASCII code.

Origin: Expansion of bit, coined by Dr. Werner Buchholz in July 1956, during the early design phase for the IBM Stretch computer.

The New Hacker's Dictionary

1. byte

   [techspeak] A unit of memory or data equal to the amount used to represent one character; on modern architectures this is invariably 8 bits. Some older architectures used byte for quantities of 6, 7, or (especially) 9 bits, and the PDP-10 supported bytes that were actually bitfields of 1 to 36 bits! These usages are now obsolete, killed off by universal adoption of power-of-2 word sizes.Historical note: The term was coined by Werner Buchholz in 1956 during the early design phase for the IBM Stretch computer; originally it was described as 1 to 6 bits (typical I/O equipment of the period used 6-bit chunks of information). The move to an 8-bit byte happened in late 1956, and this size was later adopted and promulgated as a standard by the System/360. The word was coined by mutating the word ‘bite’ so it would not be accidentally misspelled as bit. See also nybble.

• greepAfrikaans
• بايْت (كومبيوتر)Arabic
• байтBulgarian
• bytePortuguese (BR)
• byteCzech
• ByteGerman
• byteDanish
• μπάιτ, μονάδα μέτρησης μνήμης υπολογιστήGreek
• byte, octetoSpanish
• baitEstonian
• بایتFarsi
• tavuFinnish
• octetFrench
• בִּיטHebrew
• बाइट, इकाईHindi
• bajt, memorijska jedinicaCroatian
• byte (számítástechnikában)Hungarian
• byteIndonesian
• byteItalian
• バイト（８ビットの情報単位）Japanese
• 바이트(컴퓨터에서 정보 전달 단위)Korean
• baitasLithuanian
• baitsLatvian
• baitMalay
• byteDutch
• bitgruppe, byteNorwegian
• بایتPersian
• بایتPashto
• байтRussian
• jednotka pamäte počítačaSlovak
• zlogSlovenian
• bajtSerbian
• byteSwedish
• ไบต์ (หน่วยเก็บข้อมูลในคอมพิวเตอร์ 1 ไบต์เท่ากับ 8 บิต)Thai
• bayt, sekizliTurkish
• 位元組Chinese (Trad.)
• байтUkrainian
• کمپیوٹر میں یاد داشت کی سب سے چھوٹی اکائیUrdu
• đơn vị bai của máy vi tínhVietnamese
• 字节Chinese (Simp.)