Central Processing Unit

Often abbreviated "CPU", This is the part of a computer that interprets and performs the instructions given to it by programs?. In many computers, this is further divided into a control unit that handles program flow and an arithmetic and logic unit that performs operations on data. The term is often used vaguely to include other centrally important parts of a computer such as memory and input/output control, especially in computers with modern microprocessor chips that include several of these functions in one physical chip.