megabitn.
/ˈmɛɡəbɪt/, U.S. /ˈmɛɡəˌbɪt/ Computing.
One million (formally: 1,048,576 or 220) bits, as a unit of data size or memory capacity. Cf. megabyte n.
ΘΚΠ
society > computing and information technology > data > [noun] > unit of
bit1948
megabit1957
byte1964
MB1965
megabyte1965
packet1966
nibble1967
Mbit1968
Mbyte1972
MSB1972
meg1983
1957 Electronics 1 Oct. 163 (heading) High-speed computer stores 2·5 megabits.
1969 Datamation Jan. 208 (advt.) The 4.7 megabit mass core..provides economical and efficient capacity for such applications as reservation systems, time sharing, message switching, [etc.].
1972 Sci. Amer. Sept. 139/2 A broadcast-quality color-television signal in digital code calls for 90 megabits per second.
1999 Nature 24 June 729/2 Evolution has increased the number of device components on a chip by a factor of 64,000 to a fully integrated 64 megabit memory chip.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2001; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.1957