digital

[dij-i-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.

noun

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

digital

/ 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

noun

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

digital

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

Other Word Forms

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

Word History and Origins

Origin of digital¹

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

Example Sentences

Brent Ellis, principal analyst at market researcher Forrester, said the outage exposed what he called the "nested dependency" between popular digital platforms and the array of services providing the web's technical underpinnings.

Read more on BBC

Another key concern for patients and their advocates using AI to combat insurers’ use of AI is that it will escalate into a digital arms race that is not productive for either party.

Read more on MarketWatch

“The controlling shareholder Octave Klaba is appointed CEO and will unveil a strategic plan in early 2026 aimed at restoring growth, specifically by tackling the slowdown among digital starters,” Stifel says.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Kanter said officials are alarmed by what he called the “cozy nature of circular investments” largely among digital incumbents.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

While news organizations are in many ways top-down institutions—newsroom editors exercise an autocracy quite rare in other fields—in reality they are bottom-up, their product shaped by those who wield the digital pens.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Related Words

• PC 
• data processor www.thesaurus.com
• desktop computer www.thesaurus.com
• personal computer