bandwidth

English

Etymology

From band +‎ width.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈbændwɪdθ/, /ˈbændwɪtθ/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

Noun

bandwidth (countable and uncountable, plural bandwidths)

1. The width, usually measured in hertz, of a frequency band.
   • 2010 October 30, Jim Giles, “Jammed!”, in New Scientist:

     But now is a good time to be bargaining for bandwidth, as the switch from analogue to digital television is freeing up space.

2. (of a signal) The width of the smallest frequency band within which the signal can fit.
3. (networking, informal) The rate of data flow in digital networks typically measured in bits per second; the bitrate.
   • 2008, BioWare, Mass Effect (Science Fiction), Redwood City: Electronic Arts, →ISBN, →OCLC, PC, scene: Communications: Administration Codex entry:

     While comm buoys allow rapid transmission, there is a finite amount of bandwidth available. Given that trillions of people may be trying to pass a message through a given buoy at any one time, access to the network is parceled out on priority tiers.

4. (informal) The capacity, energy or time required.

   I think it's a worthy project, but I just don't have the bandwidth right now.

   • 2024 January 24, Dyan Perry talks to Nick Brodrick, “The industry has given me so much”, in RAIL, number 1001, page 44:

     Yet... rather than exploiting opportunities to their fullest, Perry uses with conviction the word "frustrated" to describe a typical approach to government with ideas: "You'll get the response 'we don't have the bandwidth to deal with that'."

   • 2024 November 14, Kateryna Stepanenko, Davit Gasparyan, Nicole Wolkov, Nate Trotter, William Runkel, Olivia Gibson, Grace Mappes, Frederick W. Kagan, “Russian Offensive Campaign Assessment, November 14, 2024”, in Ukraine Project, The Institute for the Study of War:

     Kiriyenko's personal bandwidth to do so is likely limited, however, as he also oversees many of the Kremlin's internal machinations, including the veteran-focused "Time of Heroes" program.

5. (graph theory) The minimum, over all orderings of vertices of a given graph, of the length of the longest edge.

Derived terms

• brandwidth
• time-bandwidth product

Translations

width of a frequency band

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 帶寬 / 带宽 (zh) (dàikuān), 頻帶 / 频带 (zh) (píndài), 頻寬 / 频宽 (zh) (pínkuān)

• Danish: båndbredde c
• Dutch: bandbreedte (nl) f
• Esperanto: bendlarĝo
• Estonian: ribalaius
• Finnish: kaistanleveys (fi)
• French: bande passante (fr) f
• German: Bandbreite (de) f
• Greek: εύρος ζώνης (el) (évros zónis)
• Hungarian: sávszélesség (hu)
• Icelandic: bandbreidd f, bandvídd (is) f
• Indonesian: lebar pita
• Italian: larghezza di banda f
• Japanese: 帯域幅 (ja) (たいいきはば, taiikihaba)
• Korean: 대역폭(帶域幅) (daeyeokpok)
• Macedonian: ширина на опсег f (širina na opseg)
• Malay: lebar jalur
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: båndbredde m

  Nynorsk: bandbreidd f

• Polish: przepustowość (pl) f
• Portuguese: largura de banda (pt)
• Romanian: lărgime de bandă f
• Russian: ширина́ полосы́ f (širiná polosý)
• Spanish: ancho de banda m, anchura de banda f
• Swedish: bandbredd (sv) c

width of the smallest frequency band within which the signal can fit

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: please add this translation if you can

• Danish: båndbredde c
• Esperanto: bendlarĝo
• Finnish: kaistanleveys (fi)
• French: bande passante (fr) f
• German: Bandbreite (de) f
• Greek: εύρος ζώνης (el) (évros zónis)
• Icelandic: bandbreidd f
• Indonesian: lebar pita
• Macedonian: ширина на опсег f (širina na opseg)
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: båndbredde m

  Nynorsk: bandbreidd f

• Polish: przepustowość (pl) f
• Portuguese: largura de banda (pt)
• Russian: please add this translation if you can
• Spanish: ancho de banda m, anchor de banda m

measure of data flow rate in digital networks

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: please add this translation if you can

• Danish: båndbredde c
• Dutch: bandbreedte (nl) f
• Esperanto: kapacito
• Estonian: ülekandemaht
• Finnish: siirtonopeus; kaistanleveys (fi), kaista (fi) (informal)
• French: débit (fr) m, bande passante (fr) f
• German: Bandbreite (de) f
• Greek: εύρος ζώνης (el) n (évros zónis)
• Hebrew: רוחב פס m (rohav pas)
• Icelandic: bandbreidd f
• Indonesian: pita lebar
• Korean: 대역폭(帶域幅) (daeyeokpok)
• Macedonian: појасна ширина f (pojasna širina), ширина на опсег f (širina na opseg)
• Malay: lebar jalur
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: båndbredde m, båndvidde m or f

  Nynorsk: bandbreidd f

• Polish: przepustowość (pl) f
• Portuguese: largura de banda (pt) f
• Russian: пропускна́я спосо́бность f (propusknája sposóbnostʹ), ширина́ полосы́ f (širiná polosý)
• Spanish: ancho de banda m, grosor de banda m
• Swedish: bandbredd (sv) c

See also

• bandshape
• broadband