The word digital describes any system based on discontinuous data or events. The important word here is  discontinuous, which means not continuous or having breaks. The opposite of digital is analog.  

Analog processes information more or less in a continuous stream. The difference can be easily seen in a clock. An analog clock is one with hands that circle continuously producing a stream of time. Any minute and any fraction of a minute can be represented. For instance, you could look at an analog clock and say with some degree of accuracy that it is one and one half minutes past one o'clock. You could see that the minute hand was half way between one and two minutes. The average digital clock, which shows the time by flashing the hour and the minute, produces distinct minutes but cannot represent a half of a minute or a quarter of a minute. The digital clock will show that it is one minute past one or two minutes past one. You cannot tell from looking at the clock if it is one and one half minutes past one or one and a quarter minutes past one. 

From the above description, you may surmise that analog is more detailed than digital, but that assumption would be incorrect. Although the normal digital clock will show only minutes, a more detailed digital clock could show fractions of minutes - even a thousandth or millionth of a second, something that an analog clock could not do as accurately. Digital equipment can accurately produce minute details. Digital processing is important because a computer or other digital piece of equipment can store and manipulate digital signals quickly and easily. In addition, digital signals can be converted to analog signals to create a very high quality reproduction.