Speakur

Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

endian

/ˈɛn.di.ən/

Word Rarity Very rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 1.92 in modern English

Syllables
end-i-an
IPA
/ˈɛn.di.ən/
7
Scrabble Score
6
Letters
3
Syllables
5
Unique Chars

Meaning

adj

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).

Example Sentences

Etymology

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

Word Breakdown

Regional Pronunciation

  • American English: /ˈɛn.di.ən/
  • British English: /ˈɛn.dɪ.ən/

Phrases

bi-endian big-endian little-endian middle-endian mixed-endian wrong-endian

Frequently Paired Words

bi-endian big-endian ended endianless endianness little-endian middle-endian mixed-endian

Homonyms

Indian (pin–pen merger)

Questions

How do you pronounce endian?
The recorded pronunciation is /ˈɛn.di.ən/.
What does endian mean?
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).
Where does endian come from?
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”. The term was applied in the computing context by the Israeli-American computer scientist Danny Cohen (1937–2019) in 1980.

How to pronounce endian

  1. Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “endian”.
  2. Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling (/ˈɛn.di.ən/) so you know which sounds to aim for.
  3. Play the audio — Click Play to hear reference audio for “endian”.
  4. Repeat and practice — Say “endian” aloud, matching stress and vowels until it feels natural.