microprocessor

[mahy-kroh-pros-es-er, ‑uh-ser, ‑-proh-ses-er, ‑suh-ser]

noun

1. an integrated computer circuit that performs all the functions of a CPU.

microprocessor

/ ˌmaɪkrəʊˈprəʊsɛsə /

noun

1. computing a single integrated circuit performing the basic functions of the central processing unit in a small computer

microprocessor

1. An integrated circuit that contains a processor, such as a central processing unit.

Other Word Forms

• microprocessing noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of microprocessor¹

First recorded in 1965–70; micro- + processor

Example Sentences

“These are not very strategic components, but there are hundreds of them, small microprocessors in the lock systems, climate control, speedometers or whatever,” Volvo Chief Executive Håkan Samuelsson told The Wall Street Journal.

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After the breakup of the Soviet Union, it was revealed that their microprocessor technology was several generations behind ours.

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For the next two decades, AMD was consistently playing catch-up to Intel, another spawn of Fairchild that created the microprocessors that were used in most personal computers starting in the 1980s.

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The company released memory chips before creating the world’s first commercially available microprocessor and other innovations that made it possible for companies to build more affordable computers.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

High-speed, high-capacity memory chips hold and quickly shuttle data to a computer’s microprocessor, which converts it into text, sound and images.

Read more on New York Times

Related Words

• chip 
• circuitry 
• microchip 
• silicon chip