micro-
Translingual
[edit]Etymology
[edit]From New Latin micro- (“small”), from Ancient Greek μικρός (mikrós, “small”).
Prefix
[edit]micro-
- Very small.
- micro- + Cebus → Microcebus
- (metric units) One millionth.
Derived terms
[edit]English
[edit]
Pronunciation
[edit]- (stress on first syllable; e.g., microscope) IPA(key): /ˈmaɪkɹə-/, /ˈmaɪkɹoʊ-/
- (stress on second syllable; e.g., microscopy) IPA(key): /maɪˈkɹɒ-/
Etymology 1
[edit]From Ancient Greek μικρός (mikrós, “small”).
Prefix
[edit]| µ | Previous: | nano- |
|---|---|---|
| Next: | milli- |
micro-
- (diminutive) Very small.
- Near-synonyms: (prefixes) mini-, nano- (loose sense); (suffixes) -cule, -ee, -el, -et, -ette, -icle, -ie, -kin, -le, -let, -ling, -ole, -ule, -y
- micro- + organism → microorganism
- 2025 July 1, Kimanzi Constable, “What is a micro-retirement? Inside the latest Gen Z trend”, in Fast Company[1], archived from the original on 9 July 2025:
- Gen Z is using micro-retirement to avoid burnout, find greater fulfillment in their work, and enhance their overall well-being. However, it’s not just Gen-Z: According to a survey from Side Hustles, 10% of workers are considering taking a micro-retirement and 75% thought employers should offer micro-retirement policies such as unpaid sabbaticals.
- (metric units) One millionth.
Usage notes
[edit]- (one millionth): Officially, micro- is abbreviated as µ- (the Greek letter mu); for example, one second is 1 s, so one microsecond is 1 µs. However, for many purposes this is inconvenient, so writers often use either u- (for its similar appearance to µ-) or mc-, producing, for example, 1 um (one micrometer) and 1 mcg (one microgram). See also mcg § Usage notes.
Synonyms
[edit]Antonyms
[edit]- (antonym(s) of “diminutive”): super-, supra-, hyper-, ultra-, uber-, macro-, arch-, over-, mega-, giga-, -zilla, grand, great
Derived terms
[edit]Translations
[edit]very small
|
one millionth
|
- The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
Etymology 2
[edit]Clipping of micronation, ultimately from Ancient Greek μικρός (mikrós, “small”).
Prefix
[edit]micro-
- (micronationalism) Pertaining to an aspect of micronationalism; micronational.
Derived terms
[edit]Anagrams
[edit]Catalan
[edit]Etymology
[edit]From Ancient Greek μικρός (mikrós, “small”).
Pronunciation
[edit]Prefix
[edit]micro-
Derived terms
[edit]Further reading
[edit]- “micro-”, in Diccionari de la llengua catalana [Dictionary of the Catalan Language] (in Catalan), second edition, Institute of Catalan Studies [Catalan: Institut d'Estudis Catalans], April 2007
- “micro-”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2026
- “micro-” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
- “micro-” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.
Dutch
[edit]Etymology
[edit]From New Latin micro- (“small”), from Ancient Greek μικρός (mikrós, “small”).
Pronunciation
[edit]Audio: (file)
Prefix
[edit]micro-
Derived terms
[edit]French
[edit]Etymology
[edit]From Ancient Greek μικρός (mikrós, “small”).
Pronunciation
[edit]Prefix
[edit]micro-
Derived terms
[edit]Descendants
[edit]- Vietnamese: mi-crô
Further reading
[edit]- “micro-”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012
Galician
[edit]Etymology
[edit]From Ancient Greek μικρός (mikrós, “small”).
Prefix
[edit]micro-
Derived terms
[edit]Italian
[edit]Etymology
[edit]From Ancient Greek μικρός (mikrós, “small”).
Prefix
[edit]micro-
Derived terms
[edit]Anagrams
[edit]Occitan
[edit]Etymology
[edit]From Ancient Greek μικρός (mikrós, “small”).
Prefix
[edit]micro-
Derived terms
[edit]Portuguese
[edit]Etymology
[edit]From Ancient Greek μικρός (mikrós, “small”).
Pronunciation
[edit]
- Hyphenation: mi‧cro-
Prefix
[edit]micro-
Derived terms
[edit]Further reading
[edit]- “micro-”, in Dicionário Aulete Digital (in Portuguese), Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon Editora Digital, 2008–2026
- “micro-”, in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Lisbon: Priberam, 2008–2026
Spanish
[edit]Etymology
[edit]From Ancient Greek μικρός (mikrós, “small”).
Prefix
[edit]micro-
Derived terms
[edit]Further reading
[edit]- “micro-”, 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
Categories:
- Translingual terms derived from New Latin
- Translingual terms derived from Ancient Greek
- Translingual lemmas
- Translingual prefixes
- English terms with IPA pronunciation
- English terms with audio pronunciation
- English terms derived from Proto-Indo-European
- English terms derived from the Proto-Indo-European root *mey- (little)
- English terms derived from Ancient Greek
- English lemmas
- English prefixes
- English terms with quotations
- English clippings
- en:Micronationalism
- en:Metric prefixes
- English productive prefixes
- Catalan terms derived from Ancient Greek
- Catalan terms with IPA pronunciation
- Catalan lemmas
- Catalan prefixes
- Dutch terms derived from New Latin
- Dutch terms derived from Ancient Greek
- Dutch terms with audio pronunciation
- Dutch lemmas
- Dutch prefixes
- French terms derived from Ancient Greek
- French terms with audio pronunciation
- French lemmas
- French prefixes
- Galician terms derived from Ancient Greek
- Galician lemmas
- Galician prefixes
- Italian terms derived from Ancient Greek
- Italian lemmas
- Italian prefixes
- Occitan terms derived from Ancient Greek
- Occitan lemmas
- Occitan prefixes
- Portuguese terms derived from the Proto-Indo-European root *mey- (little)
- Portuguese terms derived from Proto-Indo-European
- Portuguese terms derived from Ancient Greek
- Portuguese 2-syllable words
- Portuguese terms with IPA pronunciation
- Portuguese lemmas
- Portuguese prefixes
- Spanish terms derived from Ancient Greek
- Spanish lemmas
- Spanish prefixes
- es:SI units