throughput

American  

[throo-poot] / ˈθruˌpʊt /

Or thruput

noun

throughputs plural

1. the quantity or amount of raw material processed within a given time, especially the work done by an electronic computer in a given period of time.

---

throughput British  

/ ˈθruːˌpʊt /

noun

1. the quantity of raw material or information processed or communicated in a given period, esp by a computer

---

Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• throughputs
  plural

Etymology

Origin of throughput

1920–25; from phrase put through, modeled on output

Explanation

Use the noun throughput to talk about how fast communication can travel over a channel, from input to output. For a computer system, the input is the information you enter, and the output is the information that is produced by the program. Throughput refers to how much output is being produced relative to the input. A system could send information at 50 bits per second of throughput, or 500 bits per minute. Throughput is a measure of how fast and efficient the program is, and maximum throughput is often called "bandwidth."

Example Sentences

Throughput is now at 92.2% of pre-Covid levels.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 17, 2026

Instead, the company is having trouble getting the basics right: Throughput is down, meaning customers are facing frustratingly long lines.

From Washington Post • Dec. 14, 2016

Throughput for all of 2015 also dropped 11%.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 26, 2016

Throughput Harvey’s rehabilitation, he and the Mets have not always seen eye to eye.

From New York Times • Aug. 1, 2014

JCAP's High Throughput Experimentation lab is tackling the materials problem with inkjet printers modified to churn out spots of alloys on glass plates for testing as catalysts and photoabsorbers.

From Nature • Jun. 3, 2014