from
The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing (8 July 2008)
type-ahead
<operating system> The facility where the user can type more
characters before the system has fully responded to those
already typed. Type-ahead is common on most current systems.
It allows the user to type without worrying that the computer
may miss input because it is temporarily busy,
e.g. reformating a page, checking spelling, or simply
suffering from network latency. There is usually some limit
to the amount of input the system can buffer, beyond which it
__will__ lose input.
[Equivalent term for {speech recognition}?]
(2003-06-15)