Each on/off setting in the computer's memory is called a binary digit or bit. A group of eight bits is called a byte. A byte is made from two nibbles of four bits each. Computer scientists made up the words "bit" and "byte". The word "bit" is short for "binary digit". It takes "bi" from binary and adds the "t" from digit. A collection of bits was called a bite. The computer scientists changed the spelling to "byte" to avoid confusion. When the computer scientists needed a word for half a byte, they thought "nibble", as in "half a bite", would be a fun word to choose.