Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun A microprocessor that performs specialized functions that the central processing unit cannot perform or cannot perform as well and as quickly.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun computer hardware An additional microprocessor used to supplement the functionality of the central processing unit, performing tasks such as floating-point arithmetic (floating-point unit) or graphics calculations (graphics processing unit).

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

co- +‎ processor

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