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Byte vs Nibble - What's the difference?

byte | nibble |

In computing terms the difference between byte and nibble

is that byte is a unit of computing storage equal to eight bits while nibble is a unit of memory equal to half a byte, or four bits.

As a verb nibble is

to eat with small, quick bites.

byte

English

Noun

(en noun) (wikipedia byte)
  • (computing) A sequence of adjacent bits (binary digits) that can be operated on as a unit by a computer; the smallest usable machine word; nearly always eight bits, which can represent an integer from 0 to 255 or a single character of text.
  • (computing) A unit of computing storage equal to eight bits
    • The word “hello” fits into five bytes of ASCII code.

    Synonyms

    * (unit of storage) B * (eight bits) (l)

    Derived terms

    (unit of storage) * kilobyte * megabyte * gigabyte * terabyte * petabyte * exabyte * yottabyte

    See also

    * word , doubleword , longword ,

    Related terms

    (unit of storage) * Previous: bit * Next: kilobyte (machine word) * Previous: nybble * Next: word

    Anagrams

    * ----

    nibble

    English

    Etymology 1

    Perhaps from (etyl) .

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • A small, quick bite taken with the front teeth.
  • (in the plural, nibbles) Small snacks such as crisps/potato chips or nuts, often eaten to accompany drinks.
    • Derived terms
    * nibbly

    Verb

    (nibbl)
  • To eat with small, quick bites.
    • The rabbit nibbled the lettuce.
  • * 2 November 2014 , Alex James in (The Guardian), The day I came face-to-face with a tiger
  • *:Giant parrots nibbled seed from the children's fingertips and my sister peeled a couple of satsumas for the lemurs.
  • * 1911 , (Rudyard Kipling), Big Steamers
  • *:"For the bread that you eat and the biscuits you nibble ,
  • *:The sweets that you suck and the joints that you carve,
  • *:They are brought to you daily by all us Big Steamers--
  • *:And if anyone hinders our coming you'll starve!"
  • To bite lightly.
    • He nibbled at my neck and made me shiver.
  • To consume gradually.
  • * 11 May 2011 , Ann Carrns in The (New York Times), Prepaid Cards Subject Jobless to Host of Fees
  • *:A report out this week from the National Consumer Law Center lays out a host of ways in which banks nibble away at jobless benefits with fees the center called “junk.”

    • Etymology 2

    From nibble', punning on the homophony of '''byte''' and ' bite

    Alternative forms

    * nybble

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • (computing) A unit of memory equal to half a byte, or four bits.http://foldoc.org/nibble
  • * 1993 , Richard E. Haskell, Introduction to computer engineering (page 287)
    • That is, the lower nibble (the 4 bits 1010 = A) has been masked to zero.

    References