giga-

See also: giga and gíga-

English

SI prefix

G	Previous:	mega-
	Next:	tera-

Etymology

From Ancient Greek γίγας (gígas, “giant”); cognate to giant.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈɡɪɡ.ə/, /ˈɡaɪ.ɡə/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• (US) IPA^(key): /ˈɡɪɡ.ə/, /ˈd͡ʒɪɡ.ə/

Prefix

giga-

2. In the International System of Units and other metric systems of units, multiplying the unit to which it is attached by 10⁹ (short scale billion or long scale milliard).

   Alternative form: G- (symbol)

   Antonym: nano-

   ‎giga- + ‎watt → ‎gigawatt ("one billion watts")

4. (computing, sometimes proscribed) Multiplying the unit to which it is attached by 2³⁰ or 1,073,741,824.

   Synonyms: gibi-, Gi-

6. (slang) Augmenting an adjective; intensely, extremely, or to an exceptionally high degree.

   Synonyms: super-, supra-, hyper-, ultra-, uber-, mega-

   Antonyms: mini-, micro-, nano-

   Wow, I am giga-jealous right now.

7. (Internet slang, originally 4chan) Used to augment nouns; denoting an invididual who is a paragon of something.

   ‎giga- + ‎Chad → ‎gigachad

   ‎giga- + ‎Stacy → ‎gigastacy

Usage notes

• In computing, the use of giga- to mean 2³⁰ = 1,073,741,824 is proscribed, and for precision gibi- specifically means the binary 2³⁰; see binary prefix for discussion. Despite this, many continue to use giga to mean 2³⁰.[1]

Derived terms

English terms prefixed with giga-

giga-amp

gigamp

gigaampere

giga-annum

gigabarrel

gigabase

gigabasepair

gigabaud

gigabel

gibi-

gigabinary

gigabit

gigabuck

gigabyte

gigacandela

gigacast

gigacasted

gigacasting

gigachad

Gigachad

gigacity

gigacycle

gigadalton

gigadeath

gigaelectron volt

gigafactory

gigafire

gigaflop

gigagauss

gigagram

gigagramme

gigahectare

gigahertz

gigahon

gillion

gigajillion

giga-joule

gigajoule

gigakatal

gigaleak

gigaliter

gigalitre

gigameter

gigametre

giganewton

giganotosaurus

giga-ohm

gigaop

gigaorder

gigaparsec

gigapascal

gigapassoid

Gigapause

gigapixel

gigarad

gigascale

gigaseal

gigasecond

gigastacy

gigaton

gigatonne

gigatrend

giga-volt

gigavolt

giga-watt

gigawatt

gigawatt hour

gigawatt-hour

gigaword

gigayacht

gigayear

• gibi-
• gigabyte
• gigaflop
• gigahertz
• gigajoule
• gigawatt

Translations

SI prefix

• Belarusian: гіга- (hiha-)
• Bulgarian: гига- (giga-)
• Catalan: giga- (ca)
• Chinese:

  Cantonese: 吉- (gat¹), 激- (gik¹)

  Mandarin: 吉- (zh) (jí-), 吉咖- (jígā-, jíkā-) (mainland China)

• Czech: giga- (cs)
• Dutch: giga- (nl)
• Estonian: giga- (et)
• Finnish: giga- (fi)
• French: giga- (fr)
• Galician: xiga- (gl)
• Georgian: გიგა- (giga-)
• German: giga- (de)
• Greek: γίγα- (gíga-)
• Hungarian: giga- (hu)
• Ido: giga-
• Indonesian: giga-
• Japanese: ギガ (ja) (giga)
• Korean: 기가- (giga-)
• Malay: giga- (ms)
• Polish: giga- (pl)
• Portuguese: giga- (pt)
• Russian: гига- (ru) (giga-)
• Spanish: giga- (es)
• Thai: จิกะ- (jì-gà), กิกะ- (gì-gà)
• Vietnamese: gi-ga

See also

• billion
• (ISO prefixes) previous: mega-, next: tera-

Further reading

• giga- on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

Catalan

Etymology

From Ancient Greek γίγας (gígas, “giant”).

Prefix

giga-

1. giga-

Czech

Etymology

From Ancient Greek γίγας (gígas, “giant”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ɡɪɡa ]

Prefix

giga-

1. giga-

Derived terms

Czech terms prefixed with giga-

gigabit

gigabajt

gigabyte

gigahertz

gigajoule

gigatuna

gigawatt

Further reading

• giga- in Slovník afixů užívaných v češtině, 2017

Dutch

Etymology

From Ancient Greek γίγας (gígas, “giant”).

Pronunciation

• Audio:

  (file)

Prefix

giga-

1. giga-

Derived terms

Dutch terms prefixed with giga-

giga-ampère

gigacandela

gigaseconde

Estonian

Etymology

From Ancient Greek γίγας (gígas, “giant”).

Prefix

giga-

1. giga-

Finnish

Etymology

Internationalism (see English giga-), ultimately from Ancient Greek γίγας (gígas, “giant”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈɡiɡɑ-/, [ˈɡiɡɑ̝-]

Prefix

giga-

1. giga-
2. (informal) super-, extremely

Derived terms

Finnish terms prefixed with giga-

gigabitti

gigahertsi

gigajoule

gigatavu

gigatonni

gigawatti

gigawattitunti

See also

• kilo-
• mega-

Further reading

• “giga-”, in Kielitoimiston sanakirja [Dictionary of Contemporary Finnish]‎^[2] (in Finnish) (online dictionary, continuously updated), Kotimaisten kielten keskuksen verkkojulkaisuja 35, Helsinki: Kotimaisten kielten tutkimuskeskus (Institute for the Languages of Finland), 2004–, retrieved 2 July 2023

French

Etymology

From Ancient Greek γίγας (gígas, “giant”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ʒi.ɡa/

• Audio (France (Vosges)):

  (file)

Prefix

giga-

1. giga-

German

Etymology

From Ancient Greek γίγας (gígas, “giant”).

Prefix

giga-

1. giga-

Derived terms

German terms prefixed with giga-

Gigapascal

Gigawatt

Further reading

• “giga-” in Duden online
• “giga-” in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache

Hungarian

Etymology

From Ancient Greek γίγας (gígas, “giant”).

Prefix

giga-

1. giga-

Italian

Etymology

From Ancient Greek γίγας (gígas, “giant”).

Prefix

giga-

1. giga-

Polish

Etymology

From Ancient Greek γίγας (gígas, “giant”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɡi.ɡa/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -iɡa
• Syllabification: gi‧ga-

Prefix

giga-

1. giga-, bilion

   ‎giga- + ‎-metr → ‎gigametr

Derived terms

Polish terms prefixed with giga-

gigabajt

Further reading

• giga- in Polish dictionaries at PWN

Portuguese

Etymology

From Ancient Greek γίγας (gígas, “giant”).

Prefix

giga-

1. giga- (SI prefix multiplying the unit by 10⁹)

Further reading

• “giga-”, in Dicionário Aulete Digital (in Portuguese), Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon Editora Digital, 2008–2026
• “giga-”, in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Lisbon: Priberam, 2008–2026

Spanish

Alternative forms

• guiga-, yiga-

Etymology

From Ancient Greek γίγας (gígas, “giant”).

Pronunciation

• IPA: [ʀ̥iɣä]

Prefix

giga-

1. giga- (SI prefix multiplying the unit by 10⁹)
2. (computing) gibi- (IEC prefix multiplying the unit by 2³⁰)

Derived terms

Spanish terms prefixed with giga-

gigabit

gigabyte

Further reading

• “giga-”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8.1, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 15 December 2025