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Revision as of 22:56, 27 February 2005
In computer hardware terminology, word size (word length) is the number of bits that a CPU can process at one time (the word). Processors with many different word sizes have existed, though powers of two (8, 16, 32, 64) have predominated for many years. See 8-bit, 16-bit, 32-bit, 64-bit, 128-bit.
A processor's word size is often equal to the width of its external data bus though sometimes the bus is made narrower than the CPU (often half as many bits) to economise on packaging and circuit board costs.
This article is based on material taken from the Free On-line Dictionary of Computing prior to 1 November 2008 and incorporated under the "relicensing" terms of the GFDL, version 1.3 or later.
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