What does the prefix nano- mean?
Nano- comes from the Greek nanos, which means "dwarf". In the metric system it means one billionth of a unit. It follows micro- on the scale of the very small.
ESEN
Prefix · one billionth / extremely tiny
nano-
Signals one billionth (10⁻⁹) or an extremely small scale: nanotechnology, nanometer, nanobot.
Scientific
Written by Bryan López, English teacher · Updated
Nanotechnology: science at a tiny scale
When you work with materials at a scale so small that it is measured only in nanometers, things behave differently: materials show physical and chemical properties that they do not have at normal size. That opened applications in medicine, electronics and energy, and made it one of the fastest growing scientific fields of this century.
How it is used
Attaches to units of measurement and technical nouns:
- nano- + unit of measurement (x10⁻⁹)meter → nanometersecond → nanosecondgram → nanogramwatt → nanowatt
- nano- + technical nountechnology → nanotechnologybot → nanobotparticle → nanoparticletube → nanotube
Pronunciation: /ˈnænəʊ/. One nanometre = 0.000000001 metres — the scale at which atoms operate.
How it is pronounced
nano-/ˈnænəʊ/
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Examples
Root word
With nano-
In a phrase
- meternanometerA human hair is about eighty thousand nanometres wide.
- secondnanosecondLight travels about thirty centimetres in a single nanosecond.
- technologynanotechnologyNanotechnology is used to build drug systems that target tumour cells directly.
- botnanobotScientists envision nanobots small enough to travel through the bloodstream.
- particlenanoparticleGold nanoparticles are used in rapid diagnostic tests.
- tubenanotubeCarbon nanotubes are among the strongest materials ever discovered.
- gramnanogramModern tests can detect substances at just a few nanograms per millilitre.
Common mistakes
nano- and micro- are practically the same in scale
micro- = one millionth (10⁻⁶); nano- = one billionth (10⁻⁹); they differ by a factor of 1,000
One micrometre = 1,000 nanometres. A micrometre is already too small to see with the naked eye, but a nanometre is 1,000 times smaller still. The nano scale is the scale of atoms and molecules.
nanosecond = an unspecified tiny fraction of a second
nanosecond = exactly one billionth of a second (0.000000001 s)
Modern computer processors operate at gigahertz speeds, performing billions of operations per second. One nanosecond is the time it takes light to travel approximately 30 centimetres — a precise, measurable quantity.
A trick to remember it
Think of the tiniest scale you can imagine: nano- = a billionth, extremely small. nanotechnology.
Practise what you learned
Exercise 1 · Form the word
Exercise 2 · Pick the right one
"Researchers are developing ___ that could one day deliver drugs directly to cancer cells inside the body."
Exercise 3 · Pick the right one
How much smaller is a nanometre compared to a micrometre?
Frequently asked questions
What does the prefix nano- mean in English?
The prefix nano- signals one billionth (10⁻⁹) or an extremely small scale: nanotechnology, nanometer, nanobot.
How do you pronounce nano-?
The prefix nano- is pronounced /ˈnænəʊ/. For example, "nanometer".
Can you give an example of a word with nano-?
"meter" becomes "nanometer". It is a typical example of the nano- prefix.
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