blockchain

Etymology

block + chain, from earlier “block chain”. In the 2008 Bitcoin paper block and chain are used separately; the concept is referred to as “chain of hash-based proof-of-work” or “chain of digital signatures”.

noun

1. A shared record of past transactions in a distributed network, typically used for cryptocurrency.
   By the way, mobile wallets differ from most software wallets in that they don't download the entire Bitcoin blockchain with every transaction. (Many software wallets do, interestingly.) Because the blockchain is a file several gigabytes in size, this would eat up a ton of mobile bandwidth and probably cause your mobile provider to either enact overage charges or just plain cancel your account. In addition, your mobile phone probably doesn't have enough onboard storage to host the entire […] 2014, Michael R. Miller, The Ultimate Guide to Bitcoin, Que Publishing, page 93
   […] blockchain is arguably the most important innovation introduced by Bitcoin. It is the missing link that makes distributed peer-to-peer digital currencies possible. The blockchain is in essence a distributed database holding all the Bitcoin transactions since the beginning (January 3, 2009) and a method to secure this database. The blockchain keeps a secure list of all the transactions. However, there are relevant questions, such as whether a particular transaction output is spendable, that […] 2014, Pedro Franco, Understanding Bitcoin: Cryptography, Engineering and Economics, John Wiley & Sons, page 95