(ICT) Acronym for Read Only Memory. ROM chips in a computer contain data and programs as supplied by the manufacturer that can be accessed but not changed, i.e. they are read-only. ROM is also used to describeCD-ROMs. Originally CD-ROMs contained data and programs that could not be changed or erased, and new data and programs could not be stored on them, but modern CD-ROM and DVD drives allow certain types of CDs and DVDs to be written to as well as read - so the term has become a misnomer in this respect. See also RAM and Section 1.1.1 (iii), Module 1.2 on the difference between RAM and ROM