Standard Lemma guide

qubit

noun · 1 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.

  • UK: /ˈkjuːbɪt/
  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • US: kyo͞o'bĭt
  • US: /ˈkjubɪt/
  • rhymes with -uːbɪt
  • homophone: cubit

1

noun

Meaning 1

A quantum bit; the basic unit of quantum information described by a superposition of two states; a quantum bit in a quantum computer capable of being in a state of superposition; A binary qudit.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Qualifier: quantum computing

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: quantum bit

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: qudit

History

Etymology

Blend of quantum + bit, a play on cubit (“historical unit of length”). Coined by American physicist Benjamin Schumacher in 1995.

Across languages

Translations

18 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Afrikaans: kwabis — quantum bit
  • Chinese Mandarin: 量子位元 (liàngzǐ wèiyuán) — quantum bit
  • Esperanto: kvantumbito — quantum bit
  • Finnish: kubitti — quantum bit
  • French: qubit — quantum bit
  • German: Qubit — quantum bit
  • Icelandic: skammtabiti — quantum bit
  • Italian: qubit — quantum bit
  • Japanese: 量子ビット (ryōshi bitto) — quantum bit
  • Korean: 큐비트 (kyubiteu) — quantum bit
  • Korean: 양자(量子) 비트 (yangja biteu) — quantum bit
  • Polish: kubit — quantum bit
  • Portuguese: qubit — quantum bit
  • Russian: куби́т (kubít) — quantum bit
  • Spanish: cúbit — quantum bit
  • Swedish: kvantbit — quantum bit
  • Turkish: kübit — quantum bit
  • Ukrainian: кубі́т (kubít) — quantum bit