In fact, in common usage, word has become synonymous with 16 bits, much like byte has with 8 bits. Can get a little confusing since the "word size" on a 32-bit CPU is 32-bits, but when talking about a word of data, one would mean 16-bits. Microcontrollers with a 32-bit word size have taken to calling their instructions "longs" (supposedly to try and avoid the word/doubleword confusion).