Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)
Trigesimo-secundo \Tri*ges"i*mo-se*cun"do\, n.
A book composed of sheets so folded that each one makes
thirty-two leaves; hence, indicating, more or less
definitely, a size of book; -- usually written {32mo}, or
32[deg], and called {thirty-twomo}.
Source : WordNet®
32nd
adj : the ordinal number of thirty-two in counting order [syn: {thirty-second}]
Source : Free On-Line Dictionary of Computing
32-bit application
{IBM PC} software that runs
in a 32-bit {flat address space}.
The term {32-bit application} came about because {MS-DOS} and
{Microsoft Windows} were originally written for the {Intel
8088} and {80286} {microprocessors}. These are {16 bit}
microprocessors with a {segmented address space}. Programs
with more than 64 kilobytes of code and/or data therefore had
to switch between {segments} quite frequently. As this
operation is quite time consuming in comparison to other
machine operations, the application's performance may suffer.
Furthermore, programming with segments is more involved than
programming in a flat address space, giving rise to some
complications in programming languages like "{memory models}"
in {C} and {C++}.
The shift from 16-bit software to 32-bit software on {IBM PC}
{clones} became possible with the introduction of the {Intel
80386} microprocessor. This microprocessor and its successors
support a segmented address space with 16-bit and 32 bit
segments (more precisely: segments with 16- or 32-bit address
offset) or a linear 32-bit address space. For compatibility
reasons, however, much of the software is nevertheless written
in 16-bit models.
{Operating system}s like {Microsoft Windows} or {OS/2} provide
the possibility to run 16-bit (segmented) programs as well as
32-bit programs. The former possibility exists for {backward
compatibility} and the latter is usually meant to be used for
new software development.
See also {Win32s}.
(1995-12-11)