latency

American  

[leyt-n-see] / ˈleɪt n si /

noun

plural

latencies

1. the state of being latent.

2. latent period.

3. Computers. the period of delay when one component of a hardware system is waiting for an action to be executed by another component.

4. Digital Technology. the time required online or in a network for the one-way or round-trip transfer of data between two nodes.

5. Digital Technology. (in virtual reality and other types of simulation) the discrepancy between the time delay of stimulus and response in the simulation as compared to the real-world equivalent.

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Etymology

Origin of latency

First recorded in 1630–40; lat(ent) + -ency

Example Sentences

Space-based AI data centers offer advantages over Earth-based centers due to energy, cooling, and latency benefits, despite cost and maintenance challenges.

From Barron's

Ukrainian planners carefully constructed software and the communications channels to minimize latency, according to people involved in the work.

From The Wall Street Journal

“This can work in niche workloads where latency, sovereignty, or resilience beats pure cost,” Tuttle adds.

From MarketWatch

While this is more noticeable, particularly for gaming where latency matters, the speeds remain perfectly functional for streaming and general browsing.

From Salon

Performance and reliability: Distributed GPU networks face inherent challenges with performance variance, latency and quality control.

From MarketWatch