Is there any confusion in the names: "microchip", "microcircuit", "processor"? Or are they similar devices?

Question

Electronics

Often the same part is called differently.

Answer 1

The difference is in the details.
Any processor is a microchip, but not any microchip is a processor.
Any microchip can be called a microchip.

Answer 2

Chip = microcircuit = miniature device (probably created according to one class of technologies) having a microscopic electrical circuit inside and contact leads to the outside. There are all kinds, both analog and digital, there are even chips with a hole outward (covered with glass from mechanical damage, by the way, not necessarily, in medicine there are those that do not close), for example, there is a chip with a matrix of rotary micromirrors (used in video projectors), those. literally a micromechanical device.
A microcontroller is a chip that performs a very specific class of tasks, controlling something, such as other devices. There are digital controllers, up to a full-fledged computer on a chip (System on Chip - SoC), there are analog simple ...
A processor is a chip (maybe called a microcontroller) that performs a specific class of task, usually digital, such as being the main computing device of a computer, or a coprocessor, such as a video card, or whatever.

Answer 3

A microcircuit is a small electrical circuit. Performs any function assigned to it.
Microchip is synonymous. More modern name.
A processor is a microcircuit (or a microchip is a synonym) that performs a certain process, which one I think is understandable. This is what the CPU microchip is called.
But. Processor (CPU) the size of a sofa. A supercomputer can no longer be called a microchip. "Micro" - an indication of miniature sizes.