noun
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A unit of computer memory or data storage capacity equal to 1,024 terabytes (2 50 bytes).
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One quadrillion bytes.
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See Note at megabyte
Etymology
Origin of petabyte
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Together, these archives now hold about 100 petabytes of information -- roughly equivalent to the total amount of text found across the entire internet, with a single petabyte equaling one million gigabytes.
From Science Daily • Oct. 28, 2025
Every time one tiny subatomic particle smashes into another during experiments at the LHC, the impact generates staggering volumes of data – about one petabyte per second.
From BBC • Jul. 1, 2024
Cheng says the hardest part was finding computational resources large enough to handle the petabyte of data.
From Science Magazine • Jun. 16, 2024
In one recent test of six SSDs, half of them wrote a petabyte of data before wearing out.
From Seattle Times • Jun. 25, 2022
Too much information, or missing the forest for the trees, is the problem with all this petabyte data gathering madness.
From New York Times • Dec. 21, 2014
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
