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Glite Dictionary
💻 A small computer 🚗 A tiny car
supermini

supermini

9.9
A small powerful computer used by labs and universities before personal computers
  • noun
  • /ˈsuːpərˌmɪni/
  • Archaic
translation icon : supermini
  • The company upgraded from a minicomputer to a supermini to improve performance and storage capacity.

Examples

  • Many research labs relied on a supermini for scientific calculations before personal computers became common.

  • In the 1970s the university installed a supermini to handle departmental data processing tasks.

  • The supermini was revolutionary for its time.

  • Many companies used superminis for their data processing.

  • In the 1980s, the research institute purchased a supermini to perform complex data analysis efficiently.

  • Before the advent of personal computers, businesses often relied on a supermini for their computing needs.

  • The university upgraded its IT infrastructure by adding a supermini that could handle multiple tasks simultaneously.

How Powerful

supercomputer
  • Specialized
28 5.5
mainframe
  • Specialized
59 5.3
supermini
  • Archaic
9.9
minicomputer
  • Archaic
1 5.2
microcomputer
  • Specialized
2 4.7

Surface Forms

supermini singular
superminis plural

Morphology

supermini = mini (semi-transparent) = super + mini

The prefix 'super' suggests enhancement or superiority, but the specific historical context of a computer class is not immediately clear.

Etymology

Supermini comes from super ('above' or 'very') and mini ('small'). So, in computing a supermini was a 'bigger' small computer — more powerful than a minicomputer but not a full mainframe.