processor

American  

[pros-es-er, proh-ses-] / ˈprɒs ɛs ər, ˈproʊ sɛs- /

Sometimes processer

noun

1. a person or thing that processes.

2. Computers.

   1. a controller, the key component of a computing device that contains the circuitry necessary to interpret and execute electrical signals fed into the device.

   2. a computer.

3. food processor.

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processor British  

/ ˈprəʊsɛsə /

noun

1. computing another name for central processing unit

2. a person or thing that carries out a process

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processor Scientific  

/ prŏs′ĕs′ər,prō′sĕs′- /

1. A part of a computer, such as the central processing unit, that performs calculations or other manipulations of data.

2. A program that translates another program into a form acceptable by the computer being used.

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Etymology

Origin of processor

First recorded in 1905–10; process + -or ²

Explanation

A processor is a person or machine that goes through certain procedures to achieve a particular result. A milk processor milks cows, stores the milk, pasteurizes it, and bottles it before you buy it a store. There are many different kinds of processors, but what they all have in common is going through a process, a series of specific steps, to accomplish something. The food processor in your kitchen quickly dices pounds of onions, a task that would take considerable work to complete by hand. A word processor does the same for writing, allowing you to easily edit text. Computer processors control and move vast amounts of data. The Latin root means "advance or progress."

Example Sentences

In March, IFF sold its soy crush and lecithin business to crop trader and processor Bunge for an undisclosed amount.

From The Wall Street Journal • May 29, 2026

Snowflake expanded ties to Amazon Web Services with a $6 billion deal that will make it one of the cloud giant’s biggest customers for its general-purpose Graviton processor chips used inside AWS data centers.

From Barron's • May 28, 2026

Google last month introduced a new processor that is customized for AI inference, or the computing required to run models rather than train them.

From The Wall Street Journal • May 19, 2026

Analysts will also be focused on any updates to Nvidia’s sales forecast from its Blackwell chips and its Rubin AI system, and its data-center processor business more broadly.

From MarketWatch • May 17, 2026

The processor was slower than a sloth by current standards, but it was fine for my needs.

From "Ready Player One: A Novel" by Ernest Cline