nano-

Webster's Dictionary (GCIDE)

nano- \nan"o-\ (n[a^]n"[-o]-), pref.

1.A prefix meaning one-billionth; as, a nanogram is one-thousandth of a microgram. [PJC]

2.Very small; submicroscopic; -- used to designate sizes smaller than those that would be referred to as micro-; as, nanoscale manipulations. [PJC]

Free On-line Dictionary of Computing

nano-

/nan'oh/ 1. <unit> A prefix meaning 10^-9 or one billionth.

Used loosely to mean "small", e.g. nanotechnology, or (rarely), following "nanosecond", to mean a short time, e.g. "I'll be with you in a nano". [Jargon File]

(2002-03-02)

The Jargon File

nano- pref.

[SI: the next quantifier below micro-; meaning × 10^-9] Smaller than micro-, and used in the same rather loose and connotative way. Thus, one has nanotechnology (coined by hacker K. Eric Drexler) by analogy with microtechnology; and a few machine architectures have a nanocode level below microcode. Tom Duff at Bell Labs has also pointed out that “Pi seconds is a nanocentury”. See also quantifiers, pico-, nanoacre, nanobot, nanocomputer, nanofortnight.