Meanings
plural mainframes · alternative main frame
- computer hardwareA large, powerful computer able to manage very many simultaneous tasks and communicate with very many connected terminals; used by large, complex organizations (such as banks and supermarkets) where continuously sustained operation is vital.
Synonyms: maxicomputer, maxi
- The main frame of a vehicle etc., more commonly main frame.
Synonyms & antonyms
nounA large, powerful computer able to manage very many simultaneous tasks and communicate with very many connected terminals; used by large, complex organizations (such as banks and supermarkets) where continuously sustained operation is vital.
More synonyms by meaning
nouna large digital computer serving 100-400 users and occupying a special air-conditioned room
noun(computer science) the part of a computer (a microprocessor chip) that does most of the data processing
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
Translations
Bulgarian мейнфрейм компютър, мейнфрейм
- мейнфрейм компютър (mejnfrejm kompjutăr)large computer
- мейнфрейм (mejnfrejm)large computer
Chinese Mandarin 主機 /主机
- 主機 /主机 (zhǔjī)large computer
Esperanto ĉeforgano, ĉefa komputilo
- ĉeforganolarge computer
- ĉefa komputilolarge computer
- ĉefkomputilolarge computer
- komputilegolarge computer
Finnish suurtietokone, keskustietokone
- suurtietokonelarge computer
- keskustietokonelarge computer
German Großrechner
- Großrechnerlarge computer
Greek μεγαλόσχημος
- μεγαλόσχημος (megalóschimos)large computer
Hungarian nagygép, nagyszámítógép
- nagygéplarge computer
- nagyszámítógéplarge computer
Italian mainframe
- mainframelarge computer
Japanese メインフレーム
- メインフレーム (meinfurēmu)large computer
Korean 메인프레임
- 메인프레임 (meinpeureim)large computer
Norwegian stormaskin
- stormaskinlarge computer
Polish mainframe
- mainframelarge computer
Portuguese mainframe
- mainframelarge computer
Russian мейнфрейм, мэйнфрейм
- мейнфрейм (mejnfrejm)large computer
- мэйнфрейм (mɛjnfrejm)large computer
Spanish mainframe, unidad computadora central
- mainframelarge computer
- unidad computadora centrallarge computer
Swedish stordator
- stordatorlarge computer
Turkish anabilgisayar
- anabilgisayarlarge computer
Vietnamese máy tính lớn
- máy tính lớnlarge computer
Cite this entry
mainframe. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/mainframe
“mainframe.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/mainframe. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “mainframe,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/mainframe.
Source: mainframe on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.