[hvs]

A byte is always 8 bits. The word you're looking for is `word-size` which, in this case would be 4 bits.

[jlokier]

A byte is not always 8 bits on old machines, though it is standardised as 8 bits nowadays.

This is why network RFCs talk of "octets", to avoid the ambiguity. Octets are always 8 bits.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Octet_(computing)

[duped]

The definition of a byte today is different than the definition of byte when those machines were manufactured. Just like how 'foot' is now standardized(*)

(* technically, a 'foot' is not a standard unit of measure but that's due to the long history of 'foot' not being standardized until relatively recently)

[fc417fc802]

No. 8 bit bytes are the de facto standard but that is in no way official nor the definition of the word. You can find modern niche projects with non-8-bit bytes (and by extension non-32 or 64 bit words).

[djmips]

I didn't realize that there was a 16 bit name called a 'chomp' haha. But more formally hextet.

[fc417fc802]

That is false. A byte is the base grouping and a word is the native size for a given operation. Some architectures even expose multiple word sizes. (TBF the entire concept can be quite fuzzy depending on the implementation.)

[quantified]

I think you might be missing the attempt at humor.