pico-

See also: pico, Pico, picó, piĉo, and pičo

English

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Celtic *bekkos

Gaulish *bekkosbor.?

Latin beccus

Old Spanish bico

Spanish picobor.

English pico-

Borrowed from Spanish pico (“beak, little bit, speck”)

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈpiː.kəʊ/
• (US) IPA^(key): /ˈpaɪ.koʊ/, /ˈpi.koʊ/

Prefix

SI prefix

p	Previous:	femto-
	Next:	nano-

pico-

2. In the International System of Units and other metric systems of units, multiplying the unit to which it is attached by 10⁻¹² (short scale trillionth or long scale billionth).

   Alternative form: p- (symbol)

   Antonym: tera- (10¹²)

3. (biology) Used to designate sizes, especially, of cells, smaller than those prefixed by nano- or micro-; sized between 0.2 and 2.0 μm.

Derived terms

• English terms prefixed with pico-

  picoalga

  picoalgal

  picoammeter

  picoamp

  picoamperage

  picoampere

  picoautotroph

  picobar

  picobarn

  picobiliphyte

  picocell

  picocellular

  picocoulomb

  picocurie

  picocyanobacterial

  picocyanobacterium

  picodroplet

  picoeconomics

  picoelectronvolt

  picoeucaryote

  picoeukaryote

  picoeukaryotic

  pico-farad

  picofarad

  picoflagellate

  picogram

  picogramme

  picohenry

  picohertz

  picoindentation

  picoinjection

  picoinjector

  pico-joule

  picojoule

  picokatal

  picokelvin

  picolitre

  picometer

  picomol

  picomolar

  picomole

  piconet

  piconewton

  pico-ohm

  picophotoautotroph

  picophototroph

  picophytoplankton

  picophytoplanktonic

  picopipette

  picoplankton

  picoplanktonic

  picoprasinophyte

  picoprojector

  picoprokaryote

  picoprokaryotic

  picopump

  picoradian

  picornavirus

  picosatellite

  picoscale

  picosecond

  picosiemens

  picosignal

  picospritzer

  picotechnology

  picotesla

  picotiter

  pico-volt

  picovolt

  pico-watt

  picowatt

Translations

multiplying the unit by 10⁻¹²

• Bulgarian: пико- (piko-)
• Chinese: 皮- (pí)
• Czech: piko- (cs)
• Danish: pico-, piko-
• Dutch: pico- (nl)
• Finnish: piko- (fi)
• French: pico- (fr)
• Galician: pico- (gl)
• German: piko-
• Hungarian: piko-
• Icelandic: píkó-
• Indonesian: piko-
• Japanese: ピコ (ja) (piko-)
• Malay: piko-
• Russian: пико- (ru) (piko-)
• Spanish: pico- (es)
• Swedish: piko- (sv)
• Vietnamese: pi-cô

Further reading

• pico- on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

Anagrams

• COIP, ICOP, IOPC, copi

Danish

Prefix

pico-

1. alternative spelling of piko-

Dutch

Etymology

From Italian piccolo (“small”).

Pronunciation

• Audio:

  (file)

Prefix

pico-

1. pico-

Dutch terms prefixed with pico-

picoampère

picocandela

pico-ohm

picoseconde

French

Pronunciation

• Audio (France (Vosges)):

  (file)

Prefix

pico-

1. pico-

German

Alternative forms

• piko-

Prefix

pico-

1. pico-

Derived terms

German terms prefixed with pico-

Picofarad

Picometer

Further reading

• “pico-” in Duden online
• “pico-”, in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache‎^[1] (in German)

Spanish

Etymology

From pico (“speck”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /piko/ [pi.ko]
• Syllabification: pi‧co-

Prefix

pico-

1. pico- (one trillionth, 10^-12)

Further reading

• “pico-”, 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