Bitblt

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A graphics operation that copies a rectangular region of pixels from a source to a destination location on a display screen
2. To transfer a block of image data from one area of video memory or a bitmap to another, often with scaling or transparency effects
3. A raster graphics technique that moves or duplicates a rectangular section of pixels to a different position or surface

Etymology: BitBLT is a computing term, short for "bit block transfer" (also written "bit blit"). It names an operation that copies a rectangular block of pixels from one area of memory to another, usually combining the source and destination with a logical operation along the way. The name was coined in the 1970s at Xerox PARC, where Dan Ingalls and colleagues developed it for the graphical interfaces of the Alto and later the Smalltalk environment. The original term was "BitBlt," and the programmers' shorthand "blit" has since spread into common use among graphics developers. The word is a compound built from ordinary English parts. "Bit" is the basic unit of digital information, and "block transfer" describes moving a rectangular region of data at once. The contraction "blit" was formed by squeezing those words together, a typical habit of programmers who wanted a short name for a frequently used routine.