Mainframe

Part of speech: noun

Pronunciation: /ˈmeɪnˌfɹeɪm/

Definitions

1. A powerful and centralized computing system designed for handling extensive data processing tasks while serving multiple users simultaneously
2. A large-scale computer system that efficiently manages massive datasets and provides essential services to various applications and users
3. A central computing unit that processes vast amounts of data while offering services to numerous applications and users across a network

Etymology: "Mainframe" is a compound of "main" and "frame," and the surprise lies in the second half. "Main" here is the old sense meaning "chief" or "principal," as in "with might and main," and in the 1950s it was attached to the large central cabinet that housed a computer's core processing and memory. "Frame" was already used for the rigid structural case or chassis of a machine, so the term was a plain description of that big metal housing rather than a borrowed or coined technical jargon. The word's meaning then stretched in a direction its parts do not suggest. The cabinet itself became the name for the entire computer system, and the term came to contrast with smaller machines such as minicomputers and, later, personal computers. A word built from two ordinary English nouns ended up naming a class of machine that filled entire rooms.

Synonyms: supercomputer, central computer, server