baud

baud /bawd/  [simplified from its technical meaning]
   n. Bits per second.  Hence kilobaud or Kbaud, thousands of bits per
   second.  The technical meaning is `level transitions per
   second'; this coincides with bps only for two-level modulation with
   no framing or stop bits.  Most hackers are aware of these nuances
   but blithely ignore them.

   Historical note: `baud' was originally a unit of telegraph
   signalling speed, set at one pulse per second.  It was proposed at
   the International Telegraph Conference of 1927, and named after
   J.M.E.  Baudot (1845--1903), the French engineer who constructed
   the first successful teleprinter.