Celerity is the historical measurement of how fast discrete signal events or symbols are transmitted across a communications medium. Engineers originally used the term in early telegraphy and data transmission to quantify signaling speed. It has since been entirely replaced by the concept of baud rate.
Heard on the job
The old manual specifies a celerity of 50 symbols per second for the teleprinter circuit.
Insider tip
You will only see this term in archival documentation or historical texts about early telegraph systems.