download
v.
copy files from a distant computer through a modem
n.
act of downloading, downloading process; item that is downloaded
Uploading and downloading
download
Verb
1. transfer a file or program from a central computer to a smaller computer or to a computer at a remote location
(antonym) upload
(hypernym) transfer
downloaden
v.
download, copy files from a distant computer through a modem (Computer)
download
<
jargon> To transfer data from one computer to another. Downloading usually refers to transfer from a larger "host" system (especially a
server or
mainframe) to a smaller "client" system, especially a
microcomputer or specialised peripheral, and "
upload" usually means from small to large.
Others hold that, technically, download means "receive" and upload means "send", irrespective of the size of the systems involved.
Note that in communications between ground and space, space-to-earth transmission is always "down" and the reverse "up", regardless of size. So far the in-space machines have invariably been smaller; thus the upload/download distinction has been reversed from its usual sense.
[
Jargon File]
(2003-11-04)
(c) Copyright 1993 by Denis Howe