daemon Hear it!

daemon definition - telecom
From the Greek daimon, meaning divine power. A utility that resides in RAM, waiting in the background until an event triggers it to take action. Print spoolers, e-mail handlers, and automatic backup utilities are examples of daemons. In mythology, a daemon was variously a guardian spirit or secondary divinity in the form of a demigod, i.e., half-man and half-god, that was tasked with duties deemed too insignificant for the gods' attention. See also RAM and utility.

Webster's New World Telecom Dictionary Copyright © 2008 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Indianapolis, Indiana.
Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

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