Etymograph

English

qubit

Qubit comes from English cubit ‘historical unit of length’.

  1. English1500–presentcubit‘historical unit of length’
  2. Englishearliest quotation 2006qubit

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

Lineage

  1. English1500–presentcubit‘historical unit of length’
  2. Englishearliest quotation 2006qubit

Earliest quotation: 2006, NewScientist: “Quantum computing, on the other hand, is based on…”

A blend of quantum + bit

Proto-Indo-European *kʷéh₂onts ‘how much, how many’

Proto-Italic *kʷāntos ‘how much, many’

Latin quantus ‘how much’

Late Latin quantum

English quantum

Middle English bitte

English bit

The story

Coined by American physicist Benjamin Schumacher in 1995.

Every English word from English cubit

Today it means

noun A quantum bit; the basic unit of quantum information described by a superposition of two states; a quantum bit in a quantum computer capable of being in a state of superposition; A binary qudit.

Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.

Etymograph / English cubit / qubit

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