digital

American  

[dij-i-tl] / ˈdɪdʒ ɪ tl /

adjective

1. displaying a readout in numerical digits rather than by a pointer or hands on a dial.

   a digital speedometer;

   a digital watch.

2. of, relating to, or using numerical calculations.

3. of, relating to, or using data in the form of numerical digits.

   a digital image;

   digital devices.

4. involving or using numerical digits expressed in a scale of notation, usually in the binary system, to represent discretely all variables occurring in a problem.

5. available in electronic form; readable and manipulable by computer.

   Scan these two pages so you'll have them as a digital document.

6. pertaining to, noting, or making use of computers and computerized technologies, including the internet.

   We are living in an increasingly digital world.

   Digital activism uses social media to achieve political reform.

   His blog is a great example of digital journalism.

   Digital technology has revolutionized the music industry.

7. of or relating to a digit or finger.

8. resembling a digit or finger.

9. manipulated with a finger or the fingertips.

   a digital switch.

10. having fingers or digitlike parts.

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noun

1. one of the keys or finger levers of keyboard instruments.

digital British  

/ ˈdɪdʒɪtəl /

adjective

1. of, relating to, resembling, or possessing a digit or digits

2. performed with the fingers

3. representing data as a series of numerical values

4. displaying information as numbers rather than by a pointer moving over a dial

   a digital voltmeter

   digital read-out

5. electronics responding to discrete values of input voltage and producing discrete output voltage levels, as in a logic circuit

   digital circuit

6. a less common word for digitate

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noun

1. music one of the keys on the manuals of an organ or on a piano, harpsichord, etc

digital Scientific  

/ dĭj′ĭ-tl /

1. Anatomy Relating to or resembling a digit, especially a finger.

2. Computer Science Representing or operating on data or information in numerical form. A digital clock uses a series of changing digits to represent time at discrete intervals, for example, every second. Modern computers rely on digital processing techniques, in which both data and the instructions for manipulating data are represented as binary numbers.

3. Computer Science Compare analog See also logic gate

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Other Word Forms

• digitally adverb
• interdigital adjective
• interdigitally adverb
• postdigital adjective
• predigital adjective

Etymology

Origin of digital

First recorded in 1400–50; late Middle English, from Latin digitālis, equivalent to digit(us) ( digit ) + -ālis -al ¹

Explanation

While digital refers to something that can be manipulated by the fingers (called "digits"), it also is a type of electronic signal that uses a binary code (a system using numbers, or "digits") to transmit information. The Latin digitus means "finger or toe," so it makes sense that by adding the suffix -al, which means "being like," we get the adjective digital, "fingerlike." The idea of the word referring to numerals began around 1938, soon becoming vital in computers. It's easy to imagine the connection between fingers and numbers, as the first mathematical "calculators" were probably fingers and toes. Digital recording appeared in 1960 to challenge analog, soon becoming the broadcasting standard for clearer signals.

Example Sentences

I still recall the promise of new-millennium digital iconography, when knowledge fused with access, and posters with images of kids surfing on textbooks down the information superhighway adorned school computer rooms.

From Salon • Apr. 12, 2026

Researchers also used digital reconstruction techniques to piece together fragmented bones and better understand their shape and structure.

From Science Daily • Apr. 12, 2026

Anyone who has spent any time in the digital agora will know the chilling feeling of seeing some supposedly secret thing about yourself suddenly reflected in a targeted advertisement.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 12, 2026

When a dispute arises, holders of UMA’s digital tokens debate the situation in forums on the social-media platform Discord, then vote on the outcome.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 11, 2026

Because Mr. and Mrs. Lassiter ran a photo business, printing and framing photos and teaching digital photography, their house was filled with printed pictures.

From "Keep It Together, Keiko Carter" by Debbi Michiko Florence

Related Words

• PC
• data processor
• desktop computer
• personal computer