minicomputing

noun

UK /ˌmɪnɪkəmˈpjuːtɪŋ/

US /ˌmɪnɪkəmˈpjuːtɪŋ/

Minicomputing is using a medium-sized computer that is bigger than a home computer but smaller than a giant one.

The school's minicomputing lab let students run science programs on a shared machine.

SYNONYMS

midrange computing departmental computing small-scale computing shared computing

RELATED WORDS

minicomputer mainframe server workstation time-sharing

OTHER MEANINGS

2. The act of computing on a minicomputer rather than a mainframe.

Minicomputing cut costs for the lab compared with renting mainframe time.

3. The era or practice of using minicomputers in business and research.

Minicomputing changed how offices handled payroll in the 1970s.

4. A style of computing that sits between personal computers and large mainframes.

Their minicomputing setup served a dozen terminals at once.