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Definition of megabyte

megabyte

/ˈmɛɡ.ə.baɪt/
meg · a · byte
Plural:megabytes
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megabyte Lexical Profile

megabyte Game Scores & Validity

• noun

1

A unit of digital information or computer data storage equal to one million bytes in the decimal system, or 1,048,576 (2 to the 20th power) bytes in binary computing contexts.

Example

"The high-resolution photograph took up nearly ten megabytes of storage space on the memory card."

Synonyms
View all synonyms for megabyte

Word Nuance & Usage

Do not confuse a megabyte (abbreviated MB) with a megabit (abbreviated Mb); one megabyte is equal to eight megabits, and internet connection speeds are typically measured in megabits per second while file sizes are measured in megabytes.

• Nearby Words

megabit
megabuck
megabucks
megabyte
megachurch
megacity
megaclinium

Word Origin & Etymology

Coined in the 1960s from the metric prefix 'mega-' (from Ancient Greek 'megas', meaning 'great') combined with 'byte', a computing term invented in 1956 by Werner Buchholz as a deliberate respelling of 'bite'.

Cite this Entry

Wordmom. (2026). Definition of Megabyte. In Wordmom Dictionary. Retrieved Nov 5, 2026, from https://wordmom.com/dictionary/megabyte
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