Accumulator

4 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Accumulator \Ac*cu"mu*la`tor\, n. [L.]
     1. One who, or that which, accumulates, collects, or amasses.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     2. (Mech.) An apparatus by means of which energy or power can
        be stored, such as the cylinder or tank for storing water


        for hydraulic elevators, the secondary or storage battery
        used for accumulating the energy of electrical charges,
        etc.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     3. A system of elastic springs for relieving the strain upon
        a rope, as in deep-sea dredging.
        [1913 Webster]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  accumulator
       n 1: a person who is employed to collect payments (as for rent or
            taxes) [syn: {collector}, {gatherer}]
       2: a voltaic battery that stores electric charge [syn: {storage
          battery}]
       3: (computer science) a register that has a built-in adder that
          adds an input number to the contents of the accumulator
          [syn: {accumulator register}]

From Jargon File (4.3.1, 29 Jun 2001) [jargon]:

  accumulator n. obs. 1. Archaic term for a register. On-line use of it
     as a synonym for `register' is a fairly reliable indication that the
     user has been around for quite a while and/or that the architecture
     under discussion is quite old. The term in full is almost never used of
     microprocessor registers, for example, though symbolic names for
     arithmetic registers beginning in `A' derive from historical use of the
     term `accumulator' (and not, actually, from `arithmetic'). Confusingly,
     though, an `A' register name prefix may also stand for `address', as for
     example on the Motorola 680x0 family. 2. A register being used for
     arithmetic or logic (as opposed to addressing or a loop index),
     especially one being used to accumulate a sum or count of many items.
     This use is in context of a particular routine or stretch of code. "The
     FOOBAZ routine uses A3 as an accumulator." 3. One's in-basket (esp.
     among old-timers who might use sense 1). "You want this reviewed? Sure,
     just put it in the accumulator." (See {stack}.)
  
  

From The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing (27 SEP 03) [foldoc]:

  accumulator
       
           In a {central processing unit}, a {register} in
          which intermediate results are stored.  Without an
          accumulator, it would be necessary to write the result of each
          calculation (addition, multiplication, {shift}, etc.) to {main
          memory} and read them back.  Access to main memory is slower
          than access to the accumulator which usually has direct paths
          to and from the {arithmetic and logic unit} (ALU).
       
          The {canonical} example is summing a list of numbers.  The
          accumulator is set to zero initially, each number in turn is
          added to the value in the accumulator and only when all
          numbers have been added is the result written to main memory.
       
          Modern CPUs usually have many registers, all or many of which
          can be used as accumulators.  For this reason, the term
          "accumulator" is somewhat archaic.  Use of it as a synonym for
          "register" is a fairly reliable indication that the user has
          been around for quite a while and/or that the architecture
          under discussion is quite old.  The term in full is almost
          never used of microprocessor registers, for example, though
          symbolic names for arithmetic registers beginning in "A"
          derive from historical use of the term "accumulator" (and not,
          actually, from "arithmetic").  Confusingly, though, an "A"
          register name prefix may also stand for "address", as for
          example on the {Motorola} {680x0} family.
       
          2.  A register, memory location or variable being
          used for arithmetic or logic (as opposed to addressing or a
          loop index), especially one being used to accumulate a sum or
          count of many items.  This use is in context of a particular
          routine or stretch of code.  "The FOOBAZ routine uses A3 as an
          accumulator."
       
          [{Jargon File}]
       
          (1999-04-20)