MODEM
What does "MODEM" mean?
A device that converts digital data into signals for transmission over a line and back again.
Meanings
- Hardware that lets computers exchange data over telephone, cable, or fiber lines by converting between digital and analog signals. The new fiber modem made the old dial-up screech a distant memory.
Did you know?
- 'Modem' is itself an abbreviation: it stitches together 'MOdulator' and 'DEModulator', the back-to-back jobs of turning bits into sound and sound back into bits.
Word origin
A 1950s blend of 'modulator' and 'demodulator', describing the two operations the device performs on a signal.
Remember it
MODEM = MOdulator + DEModulator: it speaks signal out and listens signal back in.
A little poem
That dial-up shriek -
two machines learning to kiss
across copper wire.
haiku
Wordplay
- Why did the modem go to therapy? It had trouble connecting and kept hanging up.
What it teaches
Every conversation across distance is just translation: turning what you mean into something a wire can carry.
Quick facts
What does MODEM mean?
A device that converts digital data into signals for transmission over a line and back again.
Is MODEM a valid word?
Yes — MODEM is one of the answer words in Wordul, the daily word game.
How many letters is MODEM?
MODEM has 5 letters and 2 syllables.
Where does MODEM come from?
A 1950s blend of 'modulator' and 'demodulator', describing the two operations the device performs on a signal.
What can MODEM teach us?
Every conversation across distance is just translation: turning what you mean into something a wire can carry.
How players do
Be the first to solve it.