Source : Free On-Line Dictionary of Computing

IEEE Floating Point Standard
     
         (IEEE 754) "{IEEE} Standard for Binary
        {Floating-Point} Arithmetic (ANSI/IEEE Std 754-1985)" or {IEC}
        559: "Binary floating-point arithmetic for microprocessor
        systems".  A {standard}, used by many {CPU}s and {FPU}s, which
        defines formats for representing floating-point numbers;
        representations of special values (e.g. {infinity}, very small
        values, {NaN}); five {exceptions}, when they occur, and what
        happens when they do occur; four {rounding modes}; and a set
        of floating-point operations that will work identically on any
        conforming system.
     
        IEEE 754 specifies formats for representing floating-point
        values: single-precision (32-bit) is required,
        double-precision (64-bit) is optional.  The standard also
        mentions that some implementations may include single-extended
        precision (80-bit) and double-extended precision (128-bit)
        formats.
     
        [On-line document?]
     
        (2003-06-17)