Natural languages... The word "End" can also mean any "extremity" and not just the opposite of "beginning". Otherwise phrases "on both ends of the spectrum" wo

Natural languages... The word "End" can also mean any "extremity" and not just the opposite of "beginning". Otherwise phrases "on both ends of the spectrum" wouldn't make sense. Thus, a positional encoding of a number has one side (end) where the impact of digits is much higher (big) than the other side (end) where the impact is lower (little). Little end: the side with lower "weight" Big end: the side with higher "weight" Being "little endian" is a property of the encoding or architecture, not the property of the word. The word is not "little endian", i.e. its "end" is not "little". The encoding is little endian in that it starts with the little end of the word. You're rightly confused because the fact we're now suddenly talking about the start of the word is implicit and based on the assumption that the reader knows Gulliver's tale.