Etymology
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megabyte (n.)

"a million bytes," 1972, from mega- + byte.

The Sussex team has run the Forrester/Meadows models more than 1000 times on the UK's most powerful computer (the giant two-megabyte IBM 370/165 at Harwell). ["New Scientist," May 4, 1972]

Entries linking to megabyte

mega- 

before vowels meg-, word-forming element often meaning "large, great," but in physics a precise measurement to denote the unit taken a million times (megaton, megawatt, etc.), from Greek megas "great, large, vast, big, high, tall; mighty, important" (fem. megale), from PIE root *meg- "great." Mega began to be used alone as an adjective by 1982.

High-speed computer stores 2.5 megabits [headline in "Electronics" magazine, Oct. 1, 1957]
byte (n.)

"unit of digital information in a computer," typically consisting of eight bits, 1956, American English; see bit (n.2). Reputedly coined by German-born American computer scientist Werner Buchholz (1922-2019) at IBM.

updated on December 15, 2018

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Dictionary entries near megabyte

meeting-house

Meg

*meg-

mega-

megabuck

megabyte

megacephalic

megacity

megacycle

megadeath

megahertz

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