1. A functional unit comprising: an execution unit; a data path having a first bit width coupled to the execution unit; a memory including storage for a wide operand, the wide operand having a size greater than the first bit width; a register file coupled to the data path and having the first bit width, the register file providing storage for a wide operand specifier which specifies an address in the memory for a wide operand stored therein and specifies an indicia of the size of the wide operand; and a wide operand storage coupled to the data path for storing the wide operand, the wide operand storage being adjacent to the execution unit.