Standard Lemma guide

bandwidth

noun · 6 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • /ˈbændwɪdθ/
  • /ˈbændwɪtθ/
  • US: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • CMU ARPABET: B AE1 N D W IH0 D TH Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

noun

Meaning 1

The width, usually measured in hertz, of a frequency band.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

The width of the smallest frequency band within which the signal can fit.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

noun

Meaning 3

The rate of data flow in digital networks typically measured in bits per second; the bitrate.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, informal, uncountable

Topics: computing, engineering, mathematics, natural-sciences, networking, physical-sciences, sciences

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

4

noun

Meaning 4

The capacity, energy or time required.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, informal, uncountable

Examples

  • I think it's a worthy project, but I just don't have the bandwidth right now.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

5

noun

Meaning 5

The minimum, over all orderings of vertices of a given graph, of the length of the longest edge.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

Topics: graph-theory, mathematics, sciences

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

6

noun

Meaning 6

a data transmission rate; the maximum amount of information (bits/second) that can be transmitted along a channel

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: information measure

History

Etymology

From band + width.

Across languages

Translations

72 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Chinese Mandarin: 帶寬 /带宽 (dàikuān) — width of a frequency band
  • Chinese Mandarin: 頻帶 /频带 (píndài) — width of a frequency band
  • Chinese Mandarin: 頻寬 /频宽 (pínkuān) — width of a frequency band
  • Danish: båndbredde — width of a frequency band
  • Dutch: bandbreedte — width of a frequency band
  • Esperanto: bendlarĝo — width of a frequency band
  • Estonian: ribalaius — width of a frequency band
  • Finnish: kaistanleveys — width of a frequency band
  • French: bande passante — width of a frequency band
  • German: Bandbreite — width of a frequency band
  • Greek: εύρος ζώνης (évros zónis) — width of a frequency band
  • Hungarian: sávszélesség — width of a frequency band
  • Icelandic: bandbreidd — width of a frequency band
  • Icelandic: bandvídd — width of a frequency band
  • Indonesian: lebar pita — width of a frequency band
  • Italian: larghezza di banda — width of a frequency band
  • Japanese: 帯域幅 (taiikihaba) — width of a frequency band
  • Korean: 대역폭 (daeyeokpok) — width of a frequency band
  • Macedonian: ширина на опсег (širina na opseg) — width of a frequency band
  • Malay: lebar jalur — width of a frequency band
  • Norwegian Bokmål: båndbredde — width of a frequency band
  • Norwegian Nynorsk: bandbreidd — width of a frequency band
  • Polish: przepustowość — width of a frequency band
  • Portuguese: largura de banda — width of a frequency band
  • Romanian: lărgime de bandă — width of a frequency band
  • Russian: ширина́ полосы́ (širiná polosý) — width of a frequency band
  • Spanish: ancho de banda — width of a frequency band
  • Spanish: anchura de banda — width of a frequency band
  • Swedish: bandbredd — width of a frequency band
  • Danish: båndbredde — width of the smallest frequency band within which the signal can fit
  • Esperanto: bendlarĝo — width of the smallest frequency band within which the signal can fit
  • Finnish: kaistanleveys — width of the smallest frequency band within which the signal can fit
  • French: bande passante — width of the smallest frequency band within which the signal can fit
  • German: Bandbreite — width of the smallest frequency band within which the signal can fit
  • Greek: εύρος ζώνης (évros zónis) — width of the smallest frequency band within which the signal can fit
  • Icelandic: bandbreidd — width of the smallest frequency band within which the signal can fit
  • Indonesian: lebar pita — width of the smallest frequency band within which the signal can fit
  • Macedonian: ширина на опсег (širina na opseg) — width of the smallest frequency band within which the signal can fit
  • Norwegian Bokmål: båndbredde — width of the smallest frequency band within which the signal can fit
  • Norwegian Nynorsk: bandbreidd — width of the smallest frequency band within which the signal can fit
  • Polish: przepustowość — width of the smallest frequency band within which the signal can fit
  • Portuguese: largura de banda — width of the smallest frequency band within which the signal can fit
  • Spanish: ancho de banda — width of the smallest frequency band within which the signal can fit
  • Spanish: anchor de banda — width of the smallest frequency band within which the signal can fit
  • Danish: båndbredde — measure of data flow rate in digital networks
  • Dutch: bandbreedte — measure of data flow rate in digital networks
  • Esperanto: kapacito — measure of data flow rate in digital networks
  • Estonian: ülekandemaht — measure of data flow rate in digital networks
  • Finnish: siirtonopeus — measure of data flow rate in digital networks
  • Finnish: kaistanleveys — measure of data flow rate in digital networks
  • Finnish: kaista — measure of data flow rate in digital networks
  • French: débit — measure of data flow rate in digital networks
  • French: bande passante — measure of data flow rate in digital networks
  • German: Bandbreite — measure of data flow rate in digital networks
  • Greek: εύρος ζώνης (évros zónis) — measure of data flow rate in digital networks
  • Hebrew: רוחב פס (rohav pas) — measure of data flow rate in digital networks
  • Icelandic: bandbreidd — measure of data flow rate in digital networks
  • Indonesian: pita lebar — measure of data flow rate in digital networks
  • Korean: 대역폭 (daeyeokpok) — measure of data flow rate in digital networks
  • Macedonian: појасна ширина (pojasna širina) — measure of data flow rate in digital networks
  • Macedonian: ширина на опсег (širina na opseg) — measure of data flow rate in digital networks
  • Malay: lebar jalur — measure of data flow rate in digital networks
  • Norwegian Bokmål: båndbredde — measure of data flow rate in digital networks
  • Norwegian Bokmål: båndvidde — measure of data flow rate in digital networks
  • Norwegian Nynorsk: bandbreidd — measure of data flow rate in digital networks
  • Polish: przepustowość — measure of data flow rate in digital networks
  • Portuguese: largura de banda — measure of data flow rate in digital networks
  • Russian: пропускна́я спосо́бность (propusknája sposóbnostʹ) — measure of data flow rate in digital networks
  • Russian: ширина́ полосы́ (širiná polosý) — measure of data flow rate in digital networks
  • Spanish: ancho de banda — measure of data flow rate in digital networks
  • Spanish: grosor de banda — measure of data flow rate in digital networks
  • Swedish: bandbredd — measure of data flow rate in digital networks
Real reading context

bandwidth in complete knowledge articles