< electronics > A three terminal semiconductor amplifying device, the fundamental component of most active electronic circuits, including digital electronics. The transistor was invented on 1947-12-23 at Bell Labs .
There are two kinds, the bipolar transistor (also called the junction transistor), and the field effect transistor (FET).
Transistors and other components are interconnected to make complex integrated circuit s such as logic gate s, microprocessor s and memory.
(1995-10-05)