endian

Etymology

Diagrams illustrating the big-endian (left) and little-endian methods of storing a 32-bit integer in computer memory. In the big-endian method, the most significant byte, 0x0A, is stored at the smallest memory address (a), whereas in the little-endian method it is stored at the largest memory address (a+3) (in other words, the least significant byte is stored at the smallest memory address).

From end +‎ -ian (suffix meaning ‘one from, belonging to, like, or relating to’ forming nouns, and meaning ‘from, like, or related to’ forming adjectives), originally in the noun Big-Endian coined by the Anglo-Irish author Jonathan Swift (1667–1745) in his novel Gulliver’s Travels (1726). Swift wrote of an emperor of Lilliput who, after his son cuts his finger when opening an egg at the large end, commands his subjects to open them at the small end; those who rebel by opening their eggs at the large end are called “Big-Endians”.^[1]

The term was applied in the computing context by the Israeli-American computer scientist Danny Cohen (1937–2019) in 1980.^[2]

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation, General American) IPA^(key): /ˈɛn.di.ən/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• Hyphenation: end‧i‧an

Adjective

endian (not comparable)

1. (computing) Preceded by a qualifying word: of a computer: storing multibyte numbers with the most significant byte at a particular memory address; for example, at the smallest address (big-endian) or the largest address (little-endian). [from 1980]

   endian-neutral code

   • 1984 August 25, Ian Kaplan, “Inconsistent bit addressing in the 68020: big- AND little-endian”, in net.micro.68k‎ (Usenet):

     In Ken Turkowski's article on the big and little endian addressing used on the 68020 he commented that Motorola's approach "proved" that a machine with consistant^[sic] bit addressing (e.g., all little or big endian) was impossible. I assume that he was joking.

References

Further reading

• endianness on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

Anagrams

• Aidenn, Andine, Dannie, Dianne, Nadine, indane, neanid

Alternative forms

• ændian

Etymology

From Proto-Germanic *andijōną (“to end”). Cognate with Old Frisian endia (“to finish”), Old Saxon endiōn (“to come to a stop”), Old High German entōn (“to end”), Old Norse enda (“to end”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈen.di.ɑn/

Verb

endian

1. to end
2. to finish, complete
3. to abolish, destroy
4. to come to an end, cease; to die