answersLogoWhite

0

The following extract is from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Byte (under History heading).

The term "byte" comes from "bite," as in the smallest amount of data a computer could "bite" at once. The spelling change not only reduced the chance of a "bite" being mistaken for a "bit," but also was consistent with the penchant of early computer scientists to make up words and change spellings. A byte was also often referred to as "an 8-bit byte", reinforcing the notion that it was a tuple of n bits, and that other sizes were possible.

User Avatar

Wiki User

16y ago

What else can I help you with?