noun · 2 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
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/ˈɡɪɡəˌwɒt/
/ˈd͡ʒɪɡəˌwɒt/
1
noun
Meaning 1
One thousand million (109) watts, an amount of power large enough to power such things as a midsize town or several small ones. (Consuming 1 gigawatt during a duration of 1 hour consumes 1 gigawatt-hour of energy.)
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
In the 2020s, the race for AI data centers has Big Tech searching for ways to add multiple gigawatts of additional grid capacity to a regional power grid.
In a famous movie about time travel, the mad scientist tells the teenage hero that the time machine requires 1.21 gigawatts of power to operate.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
2
noun
Meaning 2
The amount of data center capacity or amount of compute that this amount of power can provide under the current technological state of the art (PUE, clock speed, etc).
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: metonymically
Examples
a gigawatt of compute
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
History
Etymology
From giga- + watt.
Across languages
Translations
14 source translations are retained for this English entry.
