digital \dig"i*tal\ (d[i^]j"[i^]*tal), a. [L. digitals.]
   1. Of or pertaining to the fingers; done with the fingers;
      as, digital compression; digital examination.
      [1913 Webster]

   2. of or pertaining to digits[3]; expressed in digits[3], or
      using digits[3]; as, a digital display; a digital clock.
      [PJC]

   3. (Computers) performing internal logical and arithmetic
      operations by means of digits, usually represented as
      binary numbers. Contrasted to analog, wherein variables
      are represented as coninuous physical quantities such as
      voltages or the position of a pointer on a continuous
      scale; as, a digital computer.
      [PJC]

   Note: In digital computers, physical quantities in analog
         form, such as images, sounds, distances, voltages,
         etc., must first be converted to an internal digital
         representation before calculations can be performed on
         them. The conversion may be done by the data enterer,
         by approximation, in the case of numerical values, or
         by analog-to-digital conversion in the case of light or
         sound intensities. The latter case uses special
         equipment to convert the physical impulses into a
         digital value, using a pre-defined encoding system.
         [PJC]

	

	digital
    adj 1: displaying numbers rather than scale positions; "digital
           clock"; "digital readout"
    2: relating to or performed with the fingers; "digital
       examination"
    3: of a circuit or device that represents magnitudes in digits;
       "digital computer" [ant: analog, analogue, linear]

	

	50 Moby Thesaurus words for "digital":
   algorismic, algorithmic, aliquot, cardinal, clawed, decimal,
   dentate, differential, digitate, digitated, even, exponential,
   fanged, figural, figurate, figurative, fingered, finite,
   fractional, imaginary, impair, impossible, infinite, integral,
   irrational, jawed, logarithmic, logometric, negative, numeral,
   numerary, numerative, numeric, odd, ordinal, pair, positive,
   possible, prehensile, prime, radical, raptorial, rational, real,
   reciprocal, submultiple, surd, taloned, toothed, transcendental

	

	Digital

    Common abbreviation for Digital Equipment
   Corporation.

   (1995-12-18)

	

	digital

    A description of data which is stored or transmitted
   as a sequence of discrete symbols from a finite set, most
   commonly this means binary data represented using electronic
   or electromagnetic signals.

   The opposite is analogue.

   (1998-10-28)