Gigabytes

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A unit used to measure digital data storage, equivalent to 1,024 megabytes, which is often utilized to denote the size of files and the memory capacity in technology
2. A measurement of digital data amounting to 1,024 megabytes used to indicate storage or memory size in electronic devices
3. A standard unit for quantifying data capacity where one unit equals 1,024 million bytes, frequently referring to file size or computer memory

Etymology: The plural of "gigabyte" follows the ordinary English rule for words ending in a consonant plus "y": the "y" becomes "ies," giving "gigabytes." The base word is a compound of "giga-," from the Greek "gígas," meaning giant, and "byte," a unit of digital information that is itself a playful respelling of "bite," a small chunk or mouthful of data. The "giga-" element comes from the same Greek root as "gigantic." In the metric system it marks a factor of one billion, which is why a gigabyte is often treated as a thousand megabytes in everyday use. Strictly, though, the computing usage counts in powers of two, so a gigabyte in that sense equals 1,024 megabytes, while the decimal definition reads it as exactly 1,000,000,000 bytes.