checkdigit

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A form of check digit — A single-digit checksum.

Scrabble 23

Meanings

nouncheckdigit (plural checkdigits)

plural checkdigits

  1. alternativeAlternative form of check digit.

    Older accounts payable systems used a checkdigit in the vendor number or in the general ledger account number to verify the accuracy of these fields as they were entered.

    1991, Douglas A. Potter, Automated Accounting Systems and Procedures Handbook, New York: Wiley, →ISBN, page 248
    3 more examples

    In most applications involving identification numbers, each number may be verified for accuracy by a checkdigit, which is essentially a redundant digit added to the normal number. The checkdigit is determined by performing an arithmetic operation on the number in such a way that the usual errors encountered in transcribing a number are detected.

    1975, COS 300/310 System Reference Manual, Maynard, MA: Digital Equipment Corporation, DEC-08-OCOSA-F-D, page E-1

    One so-called internal sentinel is the checkdigit or checksum feature, often written into programs that deal with strings of numbers such as customer accounts or part order numbers. Checkdigits flag transpositions and other data entry gaffes.

    1985 August, Wendy L. McKibbin, “Conventional Wisdom”, in PC World, volume 3, number 8, San Francisco: PC World Communications, →ISSN, page 267

    The ten-digit code consists of four elements that identify (1) a national, geographic, or language group; (2) a specific publisher or producer; (3) a particular title produced by that publisher; and (4) a checkdigit that is computer generated by algorithmic calculation to determine the validity of the entire number.

    2004, R. Michael Fling, Library Acquisition of Music, Lanham, MD: Scarecrow Press, →ISBN, pages 52–53
Cite this entry
APA

checkdigit. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/checkdigit

MLA

“checkdigit.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/checkdigit. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “checkdigit,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/checkdigit.

Source: checkdigit on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.