Etymology and origin of the English word microprocessor
- Confidence
- Established
- Formation
- Compound
- First attested
- 1969 Mechanised Accounting More words from the 20th century
- Ultimate origin
- Ancient Greek μικρός
Pronunciation
Etymology
It is formed from English micro- + processor,[2][3][4][5][6] after the slightly earlier microprocessing.[2] Micro- is from Ancient Greek μικρο- (mikro-), the combining form of μικρός (mikrós, “small”);[2][3] processor, first a machine or person that processes something, is from process and was used in computing for a processing unit from 1948.[2][3]
Earliest recorded meaning
A very small processor, especially one built on one or more chips to serve as the central processing unit of a calculator or small computer: 1969, in Mechanised Accounting.[2][4] Etymonline dates it by 1970,[3] and Dictionary.com to 1965–70.[6]
Semantic evolution
Merriam-Webster uses the word both for the processor on an integrated-circuit chip and, by extension, for such a processor together with its memory and other circuits on one chip.[4][7]
Timeline
- 1969 – a very small processor on one or more chips, serving as a computer's central processing unit.[2][4]
Meanings
Noun
- A computer processor on a single integrated circuit, containing the whole central processing unit of a computer.[4][8][9][1]
- Such a processor together with memory and other circuits on one chip.[4][7]
Word family
- microprocessing
References
- ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
- ^ a b c d e f Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
- ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
- ^ a b c d e f Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
- ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
- ^ a b Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
- ^ a b Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
- ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
- ^ Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
Cite this entry
“Microprocessor.” Etymologically, 12 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/en/microprocessor. Accessed 13 Nov. 2026.
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