Processor (Micro Processor)

An integrated circuit that contains the entire central processing unit of a computer on a single chip. A central processing unit (CPU) contained within a single chip. Today, all computer CPUs are microprocessors. The term originated in the 1970s when CPUs up until that time were all comprised of several chips. Thus, when the entire CPU (processor) was miniaturized onto a single chip, the term "micro" processor was coined. Since the turn of the century, the semiconductor manufacturing process has become so sophisticated that not only one, but two or more CPUs, are built on a single chip. Microprocessor is often abbreviated MPU for "microprocessor unit" or just MP, the latter also spelled with the Greek µ symbol for micro or the letter "u" as an alternate (µP or uP).