Definition of megabyte

The term "megabyte" is a measurement of digital storage capacity commonly used in the tech industry. It is derived from the prefix "mega-" (meaning one million or 1000000 times) and the unit "byte" (a unit used to measure digital information). In binary notation, a byte is equal to 8 bits, which can represent 256 possible values. A kilobyte (KB) is therefore 1024 bytes, a megabyte (MB) is 1024 kilobytes, and a gigabyte (GB) is 1024 megabytes. The prefix "mega-" originates from the Greek prefix "meg-" which means "large" or "great." This prefix has been adapted into modern English and is widely used in various fields, including science, technology, and engineering. The term "byte" comes from the ancient Greek word "byta," which means "weight." However, in modern English, the term "byte" refers specifically to a unit used to measure digital information, particularly in relation to computer memory and storage capacity. Overall, the term "megabyte" combines two common units of measurement in order to describe a meaningful and easily understandable measure of digital storage capacity in everyday use.