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atomic


atomic: [from Gk. `atomos', indivisible] adj. 1. Indivisible;
   cannot be split up.  For example, an instruction may be said to do
   several things `atomically', i.e., all the things are done
   immediately, and there is no chance of the instruction being
   half-completed or of another being interspersed.  Used esp. to
   convey that an operation cannot be screwed up by interrupts.
   "This routine locks the file and increments the file's semaphore
   atomically."  2. [primarily techspeak] Guaranteed to complete
   successfully or not at all, usu. refers to database transactions.
   If an error prevents a partially-performed transaction from
   proceeding to completion, it must be "backed out," as the database
   must not be left in an inconsistent state.

Computer usage, in either of the above senses, has none of the connotations that `atomic' has in mainstream English (i.e. of particles of matter, nuclear explosions etc.).