teraflops: meaning, definition, pronunciation and examples
Low (specialist technical term)Technical / Scientific
Quick answer
What does “teraflops” mean?
A unit of computing speed equal to one trillion (10^12) floating-point operations per second, used to measure the performance of high-end computer processors, especially GPUs and supercomputers.
Audio
Pronunciation
Definition
Meaning and Definition
A unit of computing speed equal to one trillion (10^12) floating-point operations per second, used to measure the performance of high-end computer processors, especially GPUs and supercomputers.
By extension, a benchmark for raw computational power, often used in marketing to denote the capability of hardware for tasks like scientific simulation, AI training, and advanced graphics rendering.
Dialectal Variation
British vs American Usage
Differences
No lexical differences. The abbreviation 'TFLOPS' or 'TFLOPs' is used interchangeably in both regions.
Connotations
Neutral technical term in both varieties.
Frequency
Equally low-frequency and specialised in both UK and US English, appearing primarily in computing, engineering, and tech journalism.
Grammar
How to Use “teraflops” in a Sentence
[System/GPU] delivers [number] teraflops.[Number] teraflops of [compute performance/processing power].rated at [number] teraflops.Vocabulary
Collocations
Examples
Examples of “teraflops” in a Sentence
verb
British English
- The new chip is designed to teraflop its way through complex simulations.
- No standard verb form exists.
American English
- No standard verb form exists; the term is a noun.
adverb
British English
- No established adverbial form.
American English
- No established adverbial form.
adjective
British English
- A teraflop-capable system is essential for this research.
- The teraflop rating is impressive.
American English
- The teraflop performance metric is key for gamers.
- They compared teraflop figures.
Usage
Meaning in Context
Business
Used in tech marketing and product specifications to highlight hardware capability.
Academic
Used in computer science, engineering, and computational research papers to quantify performance.
Everyday
Virtually never used in casual conversation.
Technical
The primary domain of use; standard term in hardware reviews, specifications, and high-performance computing.
Vocabulary
Synonyms of “teraflops”
Neutral
Weak
Watch out
Common Mistakes When Using “teraflops”
- Using 'teraflops' as an adjective (e.g., 'a teraflops GPU' – better: 'a GPU capable of X teraflops').
- Confusing it with clock speed (GHz).
- Treating it as a count noun without a number (e.g., 'It has teraflops').
FAQ
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes. One teraflop, two teraflops. However, 'teraflops' is frequently used even when referring to a single unit in informal tech contexts (e.g., 'a 10 teraflops GPU').
Not necessarily. Teraflops measure raw theoretical peak performance for specific (floating-point) calculations. Real-world performance depends on architecture, software optimisation, memory bandwidth, and the specific task.
A teraflop (TFLOPS) is 1,000 times larger than a gigaflop (GFLOPS). One teraflop = one trillion FLOPS; one gigaflop = one billion FLOPS.
Modern high-end smartphone chips (SoCs) can reach performance levels measured in teraflops (e.g., 1-2 TFLOPS), especially in their GPU components, enabling advanced mobile gaming and photography processing.
A unit of computing speed equal to one trillion (10^12) floating-point operations per second, used to measure the performance of high-end computer processors, especially GPUs and supercomputers.
Teraflops is usually technical / scientific in register.
Teraflops: in British English it is pronounced /ˈtɛrəˌflɒps/, and in American English it is pronounced /ˈtɛrəˌflɑːps/. Tap the audio buttons above to hear it.
Learning
Memory Aids
Mnemonic
Think of a TERAbyte of data being processed at a FLOating-point Operations Per Second (FLOPS) rate. TERA + FLOPS = a trillion calculations per second.
Conceptual Metaphor
COMPUTATIONAL POWER IS MEASURABLE SPEED (like horsepower for engines).
Practice
Quiz
What does 'teraflops' specifically measure?