bit

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.

• bĭt
  Play
• /ˈbɪt/
  Play
• US: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  Play
• Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  Play
• Australian: /ˈbɪ̝t/
  Play
• New-Zealand: /ˈbɘt/
  Play
• rhymes with -ɪt
  Play
• CMU ARPABET: B IH1 T Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.
  Play

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form. See bite. Replaced a former strong past tense, seen in Middle English bot and Old English bāt.

From Middle English bitte, bite, from Old English bita (“bit; fragment; morsel”) and bite (“a bite; cut”), from Proto-Germanic *bitô and *bitiz; both from Proto-Indo-European *bheyd- (“to split”). More at bite. Cognates Cognate with West Frisian bit, Saterland Frisian Bit, Dutch bit, German Low German Beet, Biet, German Biss and Bissen, Danish bid, Swedish bit, Icelandic biti.

Coined by John Tukey in 1946 as an abbreviation of binary digit, probably influenced by connotations of “small portion”. First used in print 1948 by Claude Shannon. Compare byte and nybble, with similar food associations.

370 source translations are retained for this English entry.

• Armenian: սանձ (sanj) — metal in horse's mouth
• Armenian: լկամ (lkam) — metal in horse's mouth
• Old Armenian: դանդանաւանդ (dandanawand) — metal in horse's mouth
• Bulgarian: захапка (zahapka) — metal in horse's mouth
• Catalan: mos — metal in horse's mouth
• Chinese Mandarin: 馬銜 /马衔 (mǎxián) — metal in horse's mouth
• Czech: udidlo — metal in horse's mouth
• Danish: bidsel — metal in horse's mouth
• Dutch: bit — metal in horse's mouth
• Esperanto: mordaĵo — metal in horse's mouth
• Estonian: suurauad — metal in horse's mouth
• Finnish: kuolain — metal in horse's mouth
• Finnish: kuolaimet — metal in horse's mouth
• French: mors — metal in horse's mouth
• Old French: frain — metal in horse's mouth
• Galician: freo — metal in horse's mouth
• Galician: bocado — metal in horse's mouth
• German: Gebiss — metal in horse's mouth
• German: Mundstück — metal in horse's mouth
• Greek: στομίδα (stomída) — metal in horse's mouth
• Ancient Greek: χαλινός (khalinós) — metal in horse's mouth
• Hungarian: zabla — metal in horse's mouth
• Ingrian: varukset — metal in horse's mouth
• Irish: béalbhach — metal in horse's mouth
• Italian: morso — metal in horse's mouth
• Italian: freno — metal in horse's mouth
• Japanese: 馬銜 — metal in horse's mouth
• Japanese: 轡 (kutsuwa) — metal in horse's mouth
• Khmer: បង្ខាំ (bɑŋkham) — metal in horse's mouth
• Korean: 재갈 (jaegal) — metal in horse's mouth
• Kyrgyz: бөлүк (bölük) — metal in horse's mouth
• Kyrgyz: бөлүкчө (bölükcö) — metal in horse's mouth
• Kyrgyz: кесинди (kesindi) — metal in horse's mouth
• Kyrgyz: кесек (kesek) — metal in horse's mouth
• Kyrgyz: кесим (kesim) — metal in horse's mouth
• Kyrgyz: тилке (tilke) — metal in horse's mouth
• Kyrgyz: тилим (tilim) — metal in horse's mouth
• Kyrgyz: үзүм (üzüm) — metal in horse's mouth
• Kyrgyz: чагым (cagım) — metal in horse's mouth
• Kyrgyz: тешкич (teşkic) — metal in horse's mouth
• Kyrgyz: көзөч бургу (közöc) — metal in horse's mouth
• Kyrgyz: ооздук (oozduk) — metal in horse's mouth
• Kyrgyz: ачкычтын урчугу (ackıctın urcugu) — metal in horse's mouth
• Kyrgyz: мүштөк (müştök) — metal in horse's mouth
• Kyrgyz: мундштук (mundştuk) — metal in horse's mouth
• Latin: frēnum — metal in horse's mouth
• Latvian: laužņi — metal in horse's mouth
• Latvian: mutes dzelži — metal in horse's mouth
• Lithuanian: žąslai — metal in horse's mouth
• Macedonian: ѓем (ǵem) — metal in horse's mouth
• Macedonian: џем (džem) — metal in horse's mouth
• Macedonian: жвал (žval) — metal in horse's mouth
• Māori: piti — metal in horse's mouth
• Mongolian: амгай (amgaj) — metal in horse's mouth
• Norman: mors — metal in horse's mouth
• Norwegian Bokmål: bitt — metal in horse's mouth
• Norwegian Bokmål: bissel — metal in horse's mouth
• Occitan: fren — metal in horse's mouth
• Old Norse: beizl — metal in horse's mouth
• Old Norse: beizla — metal in horse's mouth
• Polish: wędzidło — metal in horse's mouth
• Portuguese: bocado — metal in horse's mouth
• Portuguese: bocal — metal in horse's mouth
• Portuguese: morso — metal in horse's mouth
• Portuguese: freio — metal in horse's mouth
• Romanian: frâu — metal in horse's mouth
• Romanian: zăbală — metal in horse's mouth
• Russian: удила́ (udilá) — metal in horse's mouth
• Serbo-Croatian: жва̏ла — metal in horse's mouth
• Serbo-Croatian: жва̏ле — metal in horse's mouth
• Serbo-Croatian: žvȁla — metal in horse's mouth
• Serbo-Croatian: žvȁle — metal in horse's mouth
• Spanish: bocado — metal in horse's mouth
• Swahili: charaza — metal in horse's mouth
• Swahili: lijamu — metal in horse's mouth
• Swedish: bett — metal in horse's mouth
• Turkish: gem — metal in horse's mouth
• Turkish: oyan — metal in horse's mouth
• Ottoman Turkish: كم (gem) — metal in horse's mouth
• Ottoman Turkish: لكام (ligam) — metal in horse's mouth
• Ukrainian: вуди́ла (vudýla) — metal in horse's mouth
• Welsh: genfa — metal in horse's mouth
• Bulgarian: свредло (svredlo) — rotary cutting tool
• Bulgarian: фреза (freza) — rotary cutting tool
• Czech: fréza — rotary cutting tool
• Czech: vrták — rotary cutting tool
• Dutch: boortje — rotary cutting tool
• Dutch: bit — rotary cutting tool
• Finnish: poranterä — rotary cutting tool
• French: foret — rotary cutting tool
• German: Bohrer — rotary cutting tool
• Hebrew: מַקְדֵּחַ (maqdéaẖ) — rotary cutting tool
• Italian: punta — rotary cutting tool
• Italian: punta di trapano — rotary cutting tool
• Korean: 비트 (biteu) — rotary cutting tool
• Central Kurdish: سِمۆ (simo) — rotary cutting tool
• Lithuanian: grąžtas — rotary cutting tool
• Macedonian: сврдел (svrdel) — rotary cutting tool
• Māori: niho — rotary cutting tool
• Māori: niho ore — rotary cutting tool
• Norwegian: bit — rotary cutting tool
• Polish: bit — rotary cutting tool
• Portuguese: broca — rotary cutting tool
• Portuguese: pua — rotary cutting tool
• Portuguese: verruma — rotary cutting tool
• Romanian: burghiu — rotary cutting tool
• Russian: сверло́ (sverló) — rotary cutting tool
• Slovak: vrták — rotary cutting tool
• Spanish: broca — rotary cutting tool
• Swahili: charaza — rotary cutting tool
• Telugu: బిట్టు (biṭṭu) — rotary cutting tool
• Turkish: matkap — rotary cutting tool
• Turkish: delgi — rotary cutting tool
• Bulgarian: бит (bit) — eighth of a dollar
• Finnish: kahdeksasosadollari — eighth of a dollar
• German: Bit — eighth of a dollar
• Italian: ottavo di dollaro — eighth of a dollar
• Korean: 12센트 반 — eighth of a dollar
• Navajo: yáál — eighth of a dollar
• Spanish: octavo de dólar — eighth of a dollar
• Swahili: charaza — eighth of a dollar
• Bulgarian: бит (bit) — coin worth about 12+1⁄2 cents; sum of 12+1⁄2 cents
• Armenian: կտոր (ktor) — small amount of something — see also a little, dash, pinch
• Bulgarian: късче (kǎsče) — small amount of something — see also a little, dash, pinch
• Bulgarian: частица (častica) — small amount of something — see also a little, dash, pinch
• Catalan: mica — small amount of something — see also a little, dash, pinch
• Catalan: poquet — small amount of something — see also a little, dash, pinch
• Chamicuro: naspejka — small amount of something — see also a little, dash, pinch
• Czech: kousek — small amount of something — see also a little, dash, pinch
• Czech: troška — small amount of something — see also a little, dash, pinch
• Dutch: beetje — small amount of something — see also a little, dash, pinch
• Dutch: hapje — small amount of something — see also a little, dash, pinch
• Esperanto: peco — small amount of something — see also a little, dash, pinch
• Esperanto: iometa — small amount of something — see also a little, dash, pinch
• Finnish: pala — small amount of something — see also a little, dash, pinch
• Finnish: palanen — small amount of something — see also a little, dash, pinch
• Finnish: osa — small amount of something — see also a little, dash, pinch
• Finnish: osuus — small amount of something — see also a little, dash, pinch
• French: petit morceau — small amount of something — see also a little, dash, pinch
• French: peu — small amount of something — see also a little, dash, pinch
• German: Bisschen — small amount of something — see also a little, dash, pinch
• German: Wenig — small amount of something — see also a little, dash, pinch
• German: Stück — small amount of something — see also a little, dash, pinch
• German: Stückchen — small amount of something — see also a little, dash, pinch
• German: Happen — small amount of something — see also a little, dash, pinch
• Irish: ruainne — small amount of something — see also a little, dash, pinch
• Irish: blúire — small amount of something — see also a little, dash, pinch
• Italian: poco — small amount of something — see also a little, dash, pinch
• Italian: poca — small amount of something — see also a little, dash, pinch
• Italian: pezzetto — small amount of something — see also a little, dash, pinch
• Italian: pezzettino — small amount of something — see also a little, dash, pinch
• Japanese: ちょっと (chotto) — small amount of something — see also a little, dash, pinch
• Japanese: 少々 (shōshō) — small amount of something — see also a little, dash, pinch
• Japanese: 少し (sukoshi) — small amount of something — see also a little, dash, pinch
• Korean: 작은 조각 (jageun jogak) — small amount of something — see also a little, dash, pinch
• Korean: 도막 (domak) — small amount of something — see also a little, dash, pinch
• Latin: frustum — small amount of something — see also a little, dash, pinch
• Latin: morsum — small amount of something — see also a little, dash, pinch
• Latin: pauxillum — small amount of something — see also a little, dash, pinch
• Latin: tantillum — small amount of something — see also a little, dash, pinch
• Lombardic: pizza — small amount of something — see also a little, dash, pinch
• Macedonian: парче (parče) — small amount of something — see also a little, dash, pinch
• Macedonian: парченце (parčence) — small amount of something — see also a little, dash, pinch
• Macedonian: трошка (troška) — small amount of something — see also a little, dash, pinch
• Māori: pīhi — small amount of something — see also a little, dash, pinch
• Māori: maramara — small amount of something — see also a little, dash, pinch
• Negerhollands: bitši — small amount of something — see also a little, dash, pinch
• Norman: morcé — small amount of something — see also a little, dash, pinch
• Norwegian: bit — small amount of something — see also a little, dash, pinch
• Plautdietsch: Tips — small amount of something — see also a little, dash, pinch
• Plautdietsch: Bät — small amount of something — see also a little, dash, pinch
• Polish: kawałek — small amount of something — see also a little, dash, pinch
• Portuguese: bocado — small amount of something — see also a little, dash, pinch
• Portuguese: pedaço — small amount of something — see also a little, dash, pinch
• Portuguese: porção — small amount of something — see also a little, dash, pinch
• Portuguese: pitada — small amount of something — see also a little, dash, pinch
• Romanian: bucată — small amount of something — see also a little, dash, pinch
• Russian: кусо́к (kusók) — small amount of something — see also a little, dash, pinch
• Scottish Gaelic: bìdeag — small amount of something — see also a little, dash, pinch
• Scottish Gaelic: criomag — small amount of something — see also a little, dash, pinch
• Scottish Gaelic: mìr — small amount of something — see also a little, dash, pinch
• Scottish Gaelic: car — small amount of something — see also a little, dash, pinch
• Slovak: kúsok — small amount of something — see also a little, dash, pinch
• Slovak: úlomok — small amount of something — see also a little, dash, pinch
• Slovak: časť — small amount of something — see also a little, dash, pinch
• Slovene: košček — small amount of something — see also a little, dash, pinch
• Spanish: grisma — small amount of something — see also a little, dash, pinch
• Spanish: colmo — small amount of something — see also a little, dash, pinch
• Spanish: pedacito — small amount of something — see also a little, dash, pinch
• Spanish: trocito — small amount of something — see also a little, dash, pinch
• Spanish: pedacico — small amount of something — see also a little, dash, pinch
• Spanish: trocico — small amount of something — see also a little, dash, pinch
• Spanish: chin — small amount of something — see also a little, dash, pinch
• Spanish: pelín — small amount of something — see also a little, dash, pinch
• Swahili: charaza — small amount of something — see also a little, dash, pinch
• Swedish: bit — small amount of something — see also a little, dash, pinch
• Telugu: ముక్క (mukka) — small amount of something — see also a little, dash, pinch
• Telugu: తుంపు (tumpu) — small amount of something — see also a little, dash, pinch
• Telugu: తునక (tunaka) — small amount of something — see also a little, dash, pinch
• Tibetan: ཅུང་ཙམ (cung tsam) — small amount of something — see also a little, dash, pinch
• Tibetan: ཅུང་ཟད (cung zad) — small amount of something — see also a little, dash, pinch
• Tibetan: ཅུང་ཟད་ཙམ (cung zad tsam) — small amount of something — see also a little, dash, pinch
• Turkish: azıcık — small amount of something — see also a little, dash, pinch
• Turkish: biraz — small amount of something — see also a little, dash, pinch
• Turkish: gıdım — small amount of something — see also a little, dash, pinch
• Turkish: parça — small amount of something — see also a little, dash, pinch
• Turkish: parçacık — small amount of something — see also a little, dash, pinch
• Turkish: zerre — small amount of something — see also a little, dash, pinch
• Ottoman Turkish: پارچه (parça) — small amount of something — see also a little, dash, pinch
• Vietnamese: tí — small amount of something — see also a little, dash, pinch
• Bulgarian: малко (malko) — small amount of time
• Czech: chvilka — small amount of time
• Czech: okamžik — small amount of time
• Finnish: hetki — small amount of time
• French: instant — small amount of time
• French: minute — small amount of time
• French: seconde — small amount of time
• German: Moment — small amount of time
• Slovak: chvíľa — small amount of time
• Slovak: moment — small amount of time
• Turkish: an — small amount of time
• Turkish: biraz — small amount of time
• Turkish: az sonra — small amount of time
• Finnish: osa — sports: fraction of a second
• Bulgarian: парче (parče) — portion
• Czech: kousek — portion
• Czech: dílek — portion
• Dutch: stuk — portion
• Finnish: pala — portion
• Finnish: palanen — portion
• Finnish: annos — portion
• French: part — portion
• Hindi: टुकड़ा (ṭukṛā) — portion
• Italian: parte — portion
• Italian: porzione — portion
• Korean: 조금 (jogeum) — portion
• Korean: 약간 (yakgan) — portion
• Macedonian: парче (parče) — portion
• Māori: inati — portion
• Māori: pīhi — portion
• Māori: tiri — portion
• Norwegian: bit — portion
• Polish: kawałek — portion
• Polish: porcja — portion
• Portuguese: bocado — portion
• Portuguese: pedaço — portion
• Portuguese: porção — portion
• Russian: кусо́к (kusók) — portion
• Scottish Gaelic: bìdeag — portion
• Scottish Gaelic: criomag — portion
• Scottish Gaelic: mìr — portion
• Slovak: kúsok — portion
• Slovak: časť — portion
• Spanish: porción — portion
• Swahili: charaza — portion
• Swedish: bit — portion
• Swedish: lite — portion
• Turkish: parça — portion
• Ottoman Turkish: پارچه (parça) — portion
• Vietnamese: phần — portion
• Finnish: jonkinlainen — somewhat; something, but not very great — see also a bit
• Scottish Gaelic: rudeigin — somewhat; something, but not very great — see also a bit
• Bulgarian: бит (bit) — replacable tip for a hand tool or power tool
• Czech: flastr — slang: prison sentence
• Finnish: kakku — slang: prison sentence
• Finnish: juttu — excerpt from show repertoire
• Slovak: časť — excerpt from show repertoire
• Finnish: haitta — part of a key which enters the lock and acts upon the bolt and tumblers
• German: Bart — part of a key which enters the lock and acts upon the bolt and tumblers
• Spanish: paletón — part of a key which enters the lock and acts upon the bolt and tumblers
• Swedish: ax — part of a key which enters the lock and acts upon the bolt and tumblers
• Swedish: nyckelax — part of a key which enters the lock and acts upon the bolt and tumblers
• Finnish: höylänterä — cutting iron of a plane
• Bulgarian: бит (bit) — math: binary digit
• Czech: bit — math: binary digit
• Dutch: bit — math: binary digit
• Esperanto: bito — math: binary digit
• Finnish: bitti — math: binary digit
• French: bit — math: binary digit
• German: Bit — math: binary digit
• Greek: δυφίο (dyfío) — math: binary digit
• Gujarati: દ્વયંક (dvayaṅk) — math: binary digit
• Hebrew: ביט — math: binary digit
• Hindi: द्वयंक (dvayaṅk) — math: binary digit
• Hungarian: bit — math: binary digit
• Icelandic: biti — math: binary digit
• Icelandic: tvíundatölustafur — math: binary digit
• Ido: bico — math: binary digit
• Irish: giotán — math: binary digit
• Japanese: ビット (bitto) — math: binary digit
• Latvian: bits — math: binary digit
• Lithuanian: bitas — math: binary digit
• Macedonian: бит (bit) — math: binary digit
• Marathi: द्वयंक (dvayaṅka) — math: binary digit
• Nepali: द्वयंक (dvayaṅka) — math: binary digit
• Portuguese: bit — math: binary digit
• Russian: бит (bit) — math: binary digit
• Slovak: bit — math: binary digit
• Slovene: bit — math: binary digit
• Spanish: binio — math: binary digit
• Swahili: charaza — math: binary digit
• Swedish: bit — math: binary digit
• Turkish: bit — math: binary digit
• Ukrainian: біт (bit) — math: binary digit
• Arabic: بِت (bit) — computing: smallest unit of storage
• Armenian: բիթ (bitʻ) — computing: smallest unit of storage
• Bulgarian: бит (bit) — computing: smallest unit of storage
• Chinese Cantonese: 位元 (wai6 jyun4) — computing: smallest unit of storage
• Chinese Cantonese: 二進制位 /二进制位 — computing: smallest unit of storage
• Chinese Cantonese: 二進制位元 /二进制位元 (ji6 zeon3 zai3 wai6 jyun4) — computing: smallest unit of storage
• Chinese: 位元 (ūi-gôan) — computing: smallest unit of storage
• Chinese Mandarin: 位 (wèi) — computing: smallest unit of storage
• Chinese Mandarin: 比特 (bǐtè) — computing: smallest unit of storage
• Chinese Mandarin: 位元 (wèiyuán) — computing: smallest unit of storage
• Chinese Mandarin: 二進位元 /二进位元 (èrjìn wèiyuán) — computing: smallest unit of storage
• Chinese Mandarin: 二進制位元 /二进制位元 (èrjìnzhì wèiyuán) — computing: smallest unit of storage
• Chinese Mandarin: 二進制數字 /二进制数字 (èrjìnzhì shùzì) — computing: smallest unit of storage
• Chinese Mandarin: 二進制位 /二进制位 (èrjìnzhì wèi) — computing: smallest unit of storage
• Czech: bit — computing: smallest unit of storage
• Dutch: bit — computing: smallest unit of storage
• Esperanto: bito — computing: smallest unit of storage
• Esperanto: duumo — computing: smallest unit of storage
• Finnish: bitti — computing: smallest unit of storage
• Georgian: ბიტი (biṭi) — computing: smallest unit of storage
• German: Bit — computing: smallest unit of storage
• Greek: μπιτ (bit) — computing: smallest unit of storage
• Greek: δυφίο (dyfío) — computing: smallest unit of storage
• Greek: δυαδικό ψηφίο (dyadikó psifío) — computing: smallest unit of storage
• Hebrew: ביט (bit) — computing: smallest unit of storage
• Hungarian: bit — computing: smallest unit of storage
• Icelandic: biti — computing: smallest unit of storage
• Icelandic: tvíundatölustafur — computing: smallest unit of storage
• Japanese: ビット (bitto) — computing: smallest unit of storage
• Korean: 비트 (biteu) — computing: smallest unit of storage
• Latvian: bits — computing: smallest unit of storage
• Lithuanian: bitas — computing: smallest unit of storage
• Macedonian: бит (bit) — computing: smallest unit of storage
• Polish: bit — computing: smallest unit of storage
• Portuguese: bit — computing: smallest unit of storage
• Romanian: bit — computing: smallest unit of storage
• Russian: бит (bit) — computing: smallest unit of storage
• Slovak: bit — computing: smallest unit of storage
• Slovene: bit — computing: smallest unit of storage
• Spanish: binio — computing: smallest unit of storage
• Swahili: charaza — computing: smallest unit of storage
• Swedish: bit — computing: smallest unit of storage
• Tibetan: གནས (gnas) — computing: smallest unit of storage
• Tibetan: བྷིཊ (bhiṭ) — computing: smallest unit of storage
• Turkish: bit — computing: smallest unit of storage
• Vietnamese: bit — computing: smallest unit of storage
• Welsh: did — computing: smallest unit of storage
• Yiddish: איינסל (eynsl) — computing: smallest unit of storage
• Yiddish: ביט (bit) — computing: smallest unit of storage
• Bulgarian: бит (bit) — information theory: datum that may take on one of exactly two values
• Dutch: bit — information theory: datum that may take on one of exactly two values
• Esperanto: bit — information theory: datum that may take on one of exactly two values
• Esperanto: duumo — information theory: datum that may take on one of exactly two values
• Esperanto: bito — information theory: datum that may take on one of exactly two values
• Finnish: bitti — information theory: datum that may take on one of exactly two values
• German: Bit — information theory: datum that may take on one of exactly two values
• Greek: δυφίο (dyfío) — information theory: datum that may take on one of exactly two values
• Lithuanian: bitas — information theory: datum that may take on one of exactly two values
• Macedonian: бит (bit) — information theory: datum that may take on one of exactly two values
• Portuguese: bit — information theory: datum that may take on one of exactly two values
• Slovak: bit — information theory: datum that may take on one of exactly two values
• Spanish: binio — information theory: datum that may take on one of exactly two values
• Swahili: charaza — information theory: datum that may take on one of exactly two values
• Turkish: bit — information theory: datum that may take on one of exactly two values
• Bulgarian: бит (bit) — information theory: unit of measure for information entropy
• Esperanto: bito — information theory: unit of measure for information entropy