French Word 'Bit': Vulgar Slang, Historical Coin, and Computing Term

Meanings of French bit

1. Penis – Vulgar slang (equivalent to "bite").
2. Small coin – Historical; a bit was a low-denomination coin (e.g., 1/8 écu).
3. Binary digit (bit) – In mathematics/computing, borrowed from English; the fundamental unit of information (0 or 1).

Context Is Key

In modern French tech contexts, bit almost always means the computing unit. The slang sense is common in colloquial speech. The numismatic sense is archaic.