# kilobyte

Pronunciation: say "KIL-uh-byt" US /ˈkɪləˌbaɪt/, UK /ˈkɪləbaɪt/

## Noun

1. A unit of digital information equal to one thousand (1,000) bytes.
   - Simple: A unit of computer data equal to one thousand bytes.
   - _The configuration file was barely a kilobyte in size._
   - _Early home computers shipped with storage measured in kilobytes._
2. A unit of digital information equal to 1,024 bytes, used especially when describing computer memory such as RAM. *(colloquial)*
   - Simple: A unit of computer data equal to 1,024 bytes, often used when talking about memory.
   - _Each kilobyte of RAM in those early systems actually contained 1,024 bytes._
   - _The vintage console advertised its memory as sixteen kilobytes._

## Origin

Coined in the 1960s from the prefix kilo- ("thousand") combined with byte.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/kilobyte (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).