Audio Sampling – bit depth (e.g. 16bit)

Hello Tech community, I am getting into Audio Sampling (Cubase VST32, Wavelab, Sound Forge).
I understand the workings of Sampling Rates (e.g. 44.1kHz, 48kHz) and how it works, but don’t understand what bit-depth is. Can anyone direct me to where Ican find a technical explanation of this process?
Thanks Techos
D. McDermott