Gigabyte
/ˈɡɪɡəˌbaɪt/noun
A unit of digital information equal to one billion bytes, or in some contexts 2^30 bytes.
Did you know?The name “gigabyte” comes from the SI prefix giga-, meaning “billion,” which ultimately traces back to Greek gígas, “giant,” so even your storage space carries a word for something colossal.
Etymological Timeline
Ancient Greek
Greek
gígas (γίγας)
“giant”
Late Latin
Latin
gigas
“giant”
19th Century
International Scientific
giga-
“SI prefix meaning one billion, adopted for very large quantities”
1960s
English
gigabyte
“a digital information unit of one billion bytes”
Modern English
English
gigabyte
“a standard measure of computer storage or data capacity”