Nano-

4 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [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]

From Jargon File (4.3.1, 29 Jun 2001) [jargon]:

  nano /nan'oh/ n. [CMU: from `nanosecond'] A brief period of time. "Be
     with you in a nano" means you really will be free shortly, i.e., implies
     what mainstream people mean by "in a jiffy" (whereas the hackish use of
     `jiffy' is quite different -- see {jiffy}).
  
  

From Jargon File (4.3.1, 29 Jun 2001) [jargon]:

  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}.
  
  

From The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing (27 SEP 03) [foldoc]:

  nano-
       
          /nan'oh/ 1.  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)