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Original · left

Bandwidth (signal or personal)

The width of an electromagnetic frequency band, or colloquial human capacity to tolerate mental stress and tasks.

First in use: the 1930s
Duplicate · right

Bandwidth (networking)

The maximum volumetric data-carrying capacity and transmission rate of a network connection measured in bits per second.

First in use: the 1990s

Bandwidth / Bandwidth (signal or personal) / Bandwidth (networking)

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Colour keyGrey · original meaningGreen · duplicate meaningAmber · contested (40–60%)How colours work

Hertz and headspace vs. bits per second.

Which meaning of Bandwidth is the original, and which one is the duplicate riding on its name? Bandwidth (signal or personal) came first (the 1930s). Bandwidth (networking) arrived in the 1990s. The data below shows which one owns the word now.

Wikipedia pageviews since 2015

Bandwidth (signal or personal)Bandwidth (networking)
English Wikipedia pageviews since July 2015 load here.

Duplicate's share of attention

Green line = duplicate's % · above 60 it owns the word · below 40 the original does

Share-of-attention line loads here.

The case for each meaning

Sourced definitions, usage stats and quotes

Original · the 1930s

Bandwidth (signal or personal)

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Duplicate · the 1990s

Bandwidth (networking)

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More duplicated terms

Cloud & infrastructure