megaflops: meaning, definition, pronunciation and examples
Very Low (C2)Technical / Formal
Quick answer
What does “megaflops” mean?
A unit of computing speed equal to one million floating-point operations per second.
Audio
Pronunciation
Definition
Meaning and Definition
A unit of computing speed equal to one million floating-point operations per second.
A measure of computational performance, primarily used to rate the speed of microprocessors, particularly in scientific and engineering calculations. The term is now largely superseded by gigaflops and teraflops.
Dialectal Variation
British vs American Usage
Differences
No significant lexical or grammatical differences. Pronunciations differ slightly.
Connotations
Neutral technical term in both varieties, associated with 1980s-1990s computing.
Frequency
Equally low and dated in both varieties, confined to historical technical discussions.
Grammar
How to Use “megaflops” in a Sentence
[Processor/Computer] + [verb: achieve/rate/deliver] + [number] + megaflopsVocabulary
Collocations
Usage
Meaning in Context
Business
Rare. Might appear in historical sales literature for computer hardware.
Academic
Used in computer science, engineering, and physics papers discussing historical performance benchmarks.
Everyday
Virtually never used.
Technical
Primary domain. Appears in specifications, benchmark reports, and historical analyses of computing power.
Watch out
Common Mistakes When Using “megaflops”
- Using 'megaflop' (singular) to refer to the unit (usually plural).
- Confusing 'megaflops' with 'megabytes' or 'megahertz'.
- Pronouncing 'flops' to rhyme with 'hops' instead of 'flops' as in 'flopping'.
FAQ
Frequently Asked Questions
It is typically treated as plural ('The machine runs at 50 megaflops'), but can be used as a singular unit when preceded by a number ('A 50-megaflops processor').
Gigaflops (billions of operations per second) and teraflops (trillions of operations per second) are now standard for modern processors.
It is applicable to any processor performing floating-point math, but its use is almost exclusively in high-performance computing (HPC) and scientific contexts.
It is pronounced to rhyme with 'hops', not like the verb 'flop'. The 's' is pronounced /s/.
A unit of computing speed equal to one million floating-point operations per second.
Megaflops is usually technical / formal in register.
Phrases
Idioms & Phrases
- “[No common idioms]”
Learning
Memory Aids
Mnemonic
Think: 'MEGA' (million) 'FLOPS' (floating-point operations per second). Imagine a giant (mega) floppy disk performing a million calculations before it flops down.
Conceptual Metaphor
COMPUTATIONAL SPEED IS A MEASURABLE QUANTITY (like speed in miles per hour).
Practice
Quiz
What does 'megaflops' specifically measure?