The term "stateless" refers to a system or process that does not retain any information about previous interactions. In computing, this means that each request from a user is treated independently, without any memory of past requests. This approach simplifies design and can enhance scalability, as servers do not need to manage user sessions. In the context of web applications, a stateless protocol like HTTP allows for efficient communication between clients and servers. Each request contains all the necessary information for processing, making it easier to distribute workloads across multiple servers without worrying about session data.