To input into the computer from a peripheral device (keyboard, mouse, disk, tape, etc.). Like reading a book or playing an audio cassette or videotape, reading does not destroy what is being read. The term also refers to accessing memory.

Read Out and Write Into
Every transfer of data is a "read out" from some place and a "write into" some other place. Reading a disk means output from the disk drive and input to the computer (write to memory). When data are copied from one memory area to another, the data are "read out" of memory and "written into" memory. See write.