a HackerNoon project
Original · left

Bit (small piece)

A small piece or quantity of something.

First in use: ancient / pre-modern
Duplicate · right

Bit (computing)

A binary digit, 0 or 1; the word was coined by John Tukey and published by Claude Shannon in 1948.

First in use: c. 1948

Bit / Bit (small piece) / Bit (computing)

Loading data…
Canonical todayMeasuring…
Status—
Duplicate share · 12 mo—
Last crossover—
Colour keyGrey · original meaningGreen · duplicate meaningAmber · contested (40–60%)How colours work

A little bit vs. Shannon's binary digit.

Which meaning of Bit is the original, and which one is the duplicate riding on its name? Bit (small piece) came first (ancient / pre-modern). Bit (computing) arrived in 1948. The data below shows which one owns the word now.

Wikipedia pageviews since 2015

Bit (small piece)Bit (computing)
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 · ancient / pre-modern

Bit (small piece)

Loading the Wikipedia definition…

12-mo pageviews—
Year over year—
Peak month—
Duplicate · c. 1948

Bit (computing)

Loading the Wikipedia definition…

12-mo pageviews—
Year over year—
Peak month—

More duplicated terms

Programming & software