Dictionary

blockchain en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• (Southern-England) audio

Etymology

From block + chain, from earlier “block chain”. In the 2008 Bitcoin paper block and chain are used separately; the concept is referred to as “chain of hash-based proof-of-work” or “chain of digital signatures”.

Meanings

1. A shared record of past transactions in a distributed network, typically used for cryptocurrency.
   • […] blockchain is arguably the most important innovation introduced by Bitcoin. It is the missing link that makes distributed peer-to-peer digital currencies possible. The blockchain is in essence a distributed database holding all the Bitcoin transactions since the beginning (January 3, 2009) and a method to secure this database. The blockchain keeps a secure list of all the transactions. However, there are relevant questions, such as whether a particular transaction output is spendable, that […] 2014, Pedro Franco, Understanding Bitcoin: Cryptography, Engineering and Economics, John Wiley & Sons, →ISBN, page 95:
   • Examples abound regarding how firms are using blockchains to enhance cybersecurity; after all, at its most basic level, it is an open source code that can be downloaded and run by anyone, for free. Due to these exceedingly low barriers to entry, this technology has the potential to unleash coinless cybersecurity applications. Already, Marc Andreesen, a venture capitalist, has invested more than $50 million in blockchain technologies. 2016 November 23, Scott Shackelford, Steve Myers, “Block-by-Block: Leveraging the Power of Blockchain Technology to Build Trust and Promote Cyber Peace”, in Yale Journal of Law and Technology (2017 Forthcoming) / Kelley School of Business Research Paper No. 16-85, →DOI, archived from the original on 04 Feb 2026, page 22 / 355:
   • By the way, mobile wallets differ from most software wallets in that they don't download the entire Bitcoin blockchain with every transaction. (Many software wallets do, interestingly.) Because the blockchain is a file several gigabytes in size, this would eat up a ton of mobile bandwidth and probably cause your mobile provider to either enact overage charges or just plain cancel your account. In addition, your mobile phone probably doesn't have enough onboard storage to host the entire […] 2014, Michael R. Miller, The Ultimate Guide to Bitcoin, Que Publishing, →ISBN, page 93:

Forms

Deriveds

off-chain · on-chain · cross-chain

Translations (28)

tr blok zinciri (shared record) · hy բլոկչեյն (shared record) · ru блокче́йн (shared record) · it blockchain (shared record) · fr blockchain (shared record) · ms blok rantai (shared record) · cy blocgadwyn (shared record) · ka ბლოკჩეინი (shared record) · cmn 區塊鏈 /区块链 (shared record) · sv blockkedja (shared record) · ja ブロックチェーン (shared record) · fr chaîne de blocs (shared record) · ug بۈلەكچە (shared record) · scn catina di blocchi (shared record) · pl łańcuch bloków (shared record) · de Blockkette (shared record) · es cadena de bloques (shared record) · af blokketting (shared record) · is bálkakeðja (shared record) · ko 블록체인 (shared record) · es blockchain (shared record) · it catena di blocchi (shared record) · scn blockchain (shared record) · kk блокчейн (shared record) · de Blockchain (shared record) · fi lohkoketju (shared record) · ca cadena de blocs (shared record) · hu blokklánc (shared record)