That's the "modern definition." However, it has not always historically been the case. In general, the term "word" in this context is a bit ambiguous:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk:Word_%28data_type%29#.22Word.22_and_.22Machine_word.22
--- On Tue, 10/11/11, Rodger Boots <rlboots2@gmail.com> wrote:
From: Rodger Boots <rlboots2@gmail.com>
Subject: Re: VECTOR: Tempest memory
To: vectorlist@vectorlist.org
Date: Tuesday, October 11, 2011, 3:23 AM
BIT = 1 Bit
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Received on Tue Oct 11 11:47:52 2011
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