Audio Help [puh-rif-er-uh
l] Pronunciation Key | 1. | pertaining to, situated in, or constituting the periphery: peripheral resistance on the outskirts of the battle area. |
| 2. | concerned with relatively minor, irrelevant, or superficial aspects of the subject in question. |
| 3. | Anatomy. near the surface or outside of; external. |
| 4. | Computers. of or pertaining to a peripheral. |
| 5. | Computers. a device or unit that operates separately from the CPU but is connected to it, as a magnetic disk or tape unit or a printer. |
| Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006. |
peripheral
To learn more about peripheral visit Britannica.com
| © 2008 Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. |
| pe·riph·er·al
Audio Help (pə-rĭf'ər-əl) Pronunciation Key
adj.
n. Computer Science An auxiliary device, such as a printer, modem, or storage system, that works in conjunction with a computer. pe·riph'er·al·ly adv. |
| The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. |
| peripheral | |
adjective | |
| 1. | on or near an edge or constituting an outer boundary; the outer area; "Russia's peripheral provinces"; "peripheral suburbs" [ant: central] |
| 2. | related to the key issue but not of central importance; "a peripheral interest"; "energy is far from a peripheral issue in the economy"; "peripheral issues" |
noun | |
| 1. | (computer science) electronic equipment connected by cable to the CPU of a computer; "disk drives and printers are important peripherals" |
| WordNet® 3.0, © 2006 by Princeton University. |
| peripheral
Audio Help (pə-rĭf'ər-əl) Pronunciation Key
Adjective
Noun Computer Science An auxiliary device, such as a printer or modem, distinct from a computer's central processing unit and working memory, and often connected externally. |
| The American Heritage® Science Dictionary Copyright © 2002 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. |
peripheral
Any part that is separate from a computer's CPU, such as a printer, a keyboard, or a monitor.
[Chapter:] Technology
| The American Heritage® New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. |
peripheral hardware
(Or "peripheral device", "device") Any part of a computer other than the CPU or working memory, i.e. disks, keyboards, monitors, mice, printers, scanners, tape drives, microphones, speakers, cameras, to list just the less exotic ones.
High speed working memory, such as RAM, ROM or, in the old days, core would not normally be referred to as peripherals. The more modern term "device" is also more general in that it is used for things such as a pseudo-tty, a RAM drive, or a network adaptor.
Some argue that, since the advent of the personal computer, the motherboard, hard disk, keyboard, mouse, and monitor are all parts of the base system, and only use the term "peripheral" for optional additional components.
(2002-09-03)
| The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing, © 1993-2007 Denis Howe |
Peripheral
Pe*riph"er*al\, a. 1. Of or pertaining to a periphery; constituting a periphery; peripheric. 2. (Anat.) External; away from the center; as, the peripheral portion of the nervous system.| Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc. |
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