Ethereum Glossary

Browse 8 ethereum terms defined in plain English, from the cultural dictionary of computing.

8 Ethereum Terms

ERC-20: The dominant token standard on Ethereum, defining a common interface (transfer, approve, balanceOf, etc.) that allows any compliant token to be traded, stored,...
EVM: Ethereum Virtual Machine — the runtime environment for smart contracts on the Ethereum blockchain. Every node runs the EVM to execute contract bytecode...
Gas: A unit of computational effort in the Ethereum blockchain. Every operation in the EVM costs gas, and users pay gas fees (in ETH) to compensate validators for...
gas fee: The fee paid to validators for processing a transaction or executing a smart contract on a blockchain like Ethereum. Gas prices fluctuate based on network...
Hardhat: A development environment for building, testing, and deploying Ethereum smart contracts, providing a local blockchain network, built-in Solidity compiler,...
MEV: Maximal extractable value (originally 'miner extractable value') — the profit a block producer can capture by arbitrarily reordering, inserting, or censoring...
Smart Contract: Self-executing code stored on a blockchain that automatically enforces the terms of an agreement when predefined conditions are met. Neither smart nor...
Solidity: The primary programming language for writing smart contracts on the Ethereum blockchain and EVM-compatible chains. Solidity's JavaScript-like syntax belies the...