Meanings
erlang1
plural erlangs
- communicationsA dimensionless statistical measure of the volume of telecommunications traffic relative to the capacity of a single channel.
One erlang (1 Erl) is defined as the amount of traffic generated by the user when he or she uses one traffic channel for one hour (this one hour is usually the busy hour of the network).
2004, Ajay R. Mishra, Fundamentals of Cellular Network Planning and Optimisation, John Wiley & Sons, →ISBN, page 42
Erlang2
- computer languagesA functional programming language designed for highly concurrent and fault-tolerant applications.
If you need to wring out every drop of performance on a complex task, or want to avoid rewriting a library written in a language other than Erlang, you'll want to explore Erlang's tools for connecting with other programming languages.
2017, Simon St. Laurent, Introducing Erlang: Getting Started in Functional Programming, O'Reilly, →ISBN, page 172
Synonyms & antonyms
nounA dimensionless statistical measure of the volume of telecommunications traffic relative to the capacity of a single channel.
Origin
erlang · noun
Named after Danish mathematician and engineer Agner Krarup Erlang (1878–1929).
Full word history & related roots →Erlang · proper noun
Named after Danish mathematician and engineer Agner Krarup Erlang (1878–1929) and a clipping of Ericsson language, the company where it originated.
Full word history & related roots →Rhymes & wordplay
Anagrams
Cite this entry
erlang. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/erlang
“erlang.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/erlang. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “erlang,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/erlang.
Source: erlang on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.