CPU

See also: cpu

English

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /(ˌ)siː(ˌ)piːˈjuː/
• (General American) enPR: sē'pē(')-yo͞oʹ, IPA^(key): /ˌsi(ˌ)piˈju/

• Audio (Australia):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -uː

Noun

CPU (plural CPUs)

1. (computer hardware) Initialism of central processing unit.

   Coordinate terms: FPU, GPU, TPU, PPU, MMU

   • 2020 September 2, Jacob Krol, “Here’s your guide to Intel’s 11th-Gen CPUs”, in CNN‎^[1], Atlanta, Ga.: Warner Bros. Discovery, archived from the original on 28 September 2022:

     Dell has announced that the new XPS 13 and XPS 13 2-in-1 will be its first to feature 11th-Gen Intel CPUs and meet the Evo certification.

   • 2023 March 7, Joel Loynds, “Best RAM for gaming in 2023: DDR4, DDR5 & more”, in Dexerto‎^[2], archived from the original on 9 February 2026:

     Looking for the best RAM for your PC in 2023 has gotten a little bit more complicated than before. With the advent of DDR5, you can now choose between a newer standard, and an older one. DDR4 has a differently keyed connector, and you’re also going to have to check that the RAM is compatible with your CPU in the first place. So, what should you buy?

2. (video games) Any character or entity controlled by the game software.

   Synonyms: NPC, AI, bot

3. (computing, slang) The main computer case containing the central components of a personal computer. (Can we add an example for this sense?)
4. (nursing education) Initialism of clinical practice unit.

Derived terms

• CPUID
• CPU sharing
• millicpu

Translations

central processing unit

• Bulgarian: ЦП m (CP)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: CPU (zh), 中央處理器 / 中央处理器 (zh)

• Dutch: CVE
• Esperanto: ĉeforgano, ĉefprocesoro, centra aparato, ĉefprocezilo
• Finnish: suoritin (fi), prosessori (fi), keskussuoritin (fi)
• French: UCT f, UC (fr) f
• German: CPU (de) f
• Greek: ΚΜΕ (el) f (KME)
• Hungarian: processzor (hu)
• Italian: processore (it) m, CPU (it) f, UCE f (rare)
• Japanese: CPU (ja) (shīpīyū)
• Polish: CPU (pl) n
• Portuguese: UCP (pt) f, CPU (pt) m
• Romanian: UCP f
• Russian: ЦПУ (ru) n (CPU), ЦП (ru) m (CP)
• Vietnamese: CPU (vi)
• Welsh: UBG (cy) f
• Xibe: ᠰᡟᡞ
  ᡦᡞ
  ᡞᡠ (syi pi iu)

See also

• DSP
• ASIC

Anagrams

• Cup, CUP, P.U.C., PUC, Pcu, UCP, UPC, cup

Japanese

Etymology

Borrowed from English CPU.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ɕiːpʲiːjɯ̟ː]
• (Tokyo) シーピーユー [shìípííyúꜜù] (Nakadaka – [5])

Noun

CPU(シーピーユー) • (shīpīyū) 

1. (computer hardware) a CPU

Synonyms

• 中(ちゅう)央(おう)処(しょ)理(り)装(そう)置(ち) (chūō shori sōchi)
• 中(ちゅう)央(おう)演(えん)算(ざん)処(しょ)理(り)装(そう)置(ち) (chūō enzan shori sōchi)

Portuguese

Etymology

Orthographic borrowing from English CPU.

Pronunciation

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /ˈse ˈpe ˈu/

Noun

CPU m (plural CPUs)

1. (computer hardware) CPU (“central processing unit”)

   Synonym: UCP

2. (computer hardware, proscribed) computer case, computer chassis, computer tower

   Synonym: gabinete

Further reading

• “CPU”, in Dicionário Aulete Digital (in Portuguese), Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon Editora Digital, 2008–2026
• “CPU”, in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Lisbon: Priberam, 2008–2026

Spanish

Etymology

Borrowed from English CPU.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˌθe ˌpe ˈu/ [ˌθe ˌpe ˈu] (Spain, Equatorial Guinea)
• IPA^(key): /ˌse ˌpe ˈu/ [ˌse ˌpe ˈu] (Latin America, Philippines)
• Syllabification: CPU

Noun

CPU f (plural CPUs)

1. (computing) CPU
   • 2020 August 5, Angel Jiménez de Luis, “Estas son las nuevas iMac de Apple”, in CNN en Español‎^[3], archived from the original on 19 August 2025:

     Es una experiencia que complementa la CPU y la GPU para realizar las tareas más rápido y que se apoya en el chip T2 integrado, que también controla la seguridad del equipo.

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

Vietnamese

Etymology

Borrowed from English CPU.

Pronunciation

• (Hà Nội) IPA^(key): [se˧˧ pe˧˧ ʔu˧˧]
• (Huế) IPA^(key): [sej˧˧ pej˧˧ ʔʊw˧˧]
• (Saigon) IPA^(key): [sej˧˧ pej˧˧ ʔʊw˧˧]
• Phonetic spelling: xê pê u

Noun

CPU

1. (computer hardware) synonym of bộ xử lí trung tâm (“central processing unit”)