gibibyte

7.1

A unit for measuring computer memory or storage equal to 1,073,741,824 bytes

noun
/ˈgɪbɪˌbaɪt/

Specialized

: gibibyte

One gibibyte is exactly 1,073,741,824 bytes.

Examples

One gibibyte is exactly 1,073,741,824 bytes.
The new hard drive has a capacity of two gibibytes.
Most operating systems now report memory sizes in gibibytes instead of gigabytes.
I need a gibibyte of storage for my files.
The new hard drive can hold 10 gibibytes of data.
The new hard drive can hold 10 gibibytes of data.
Most operating systems now report memory sizes in gibibytes instead of gigabytes.

Synonyms

GiB

vsgibibyte

Specialized

1 6.1

A unit of digital data equal to about 1.07 billion bytes used in computers

has identical meaning but is the full written term rather than the abbreviation

How Big

YiB

Specialized

9.9

exbibyte

Specialized

9.9

pebibyte

Specialized

9.9

tebibyte

Specialized

9.9

gibibyte

Specialized

7.1

mebibyte

Specialized

8.7

kibibyte

Specialized

7.6

Surface Forms

gibibyte singular

gibibytes plural

Morphology

gibibyte = byte (semi-transparent) = gibi + byte

The relation to 'byte' is clear (a unit of bytes), but the combining form 'gibi' is a technical binary prefix (2^30) that is not obvious to average learners.

Etymology

Gibibyte comes from the computer prefix gibi-, a 'binary' form of giga, plus byte, and so it names a large block of digital data. That's why a gibibyte means a data size like a gigabyte but is exactly 1,073,741,824 bytes.