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Glite Dictionary
🔬 Nanotechnology field 🤏 A tiny device ⏱️ A nanosecond 1️⃣ Very small unit
nano

nano

3 5.5
A very short time equal to one billionth of a second
  • noun
  • /ˈnænoʊ/
  • Informal
translation icon : nanosegundo
  • a nano-second
  • nano-second laser

Examples

  • Time passed, a tenth of a second at a time, while he was wired to nano.

    Fiction book (1991)

  • Taken from the Greek, nano means 'one billionth part of' a whole or very, very small.

    Blog text (2)

  • The iPhone 5 has a new format of SIM cards, Nano-SIM format.

    Blog text (10)

  • Their presence does seem to confirm the smaller home button and nano-SIM tray, but otherwise these parts aren't particularly exciting.

    Blog text (19)

  • There are Nano SIM card cutters already on eBay; I just purchased one myself.

    Blog text (34)

  • The latest processor can perform millions of operations in just one nano.

  • In computing, data transfer speed is often measured in nanos.

  • During the experiment, the response time was recorded as less than a nano.

Synonyms

nanosecond
vsnano
  • Specialized
20 4.5

A unit of time equal to one billionth of a second

is an informal abbreviation used instead of the full unit name
nsec
vsnano
  • Specialized
7.4

A unit of time equal to one billionth of a second

is an informal abbreviation used in casual contexts rather than neutral written form

How Short

picosecond
  • Specialized
1 8.0
nano
  • Informal
3 5.5
microsecond
  • Specialized
11 3.6
millisecond
26 2.5
second
  • Specialized
∞ 1.0
minute
∞ 1.0
hour
∞ 1.0

Surface Forms

nano singular
nanos plural

Etymology

Nano is often a short form of nanosecond, where the prefix nano- means 'one billionth' and a nanosecond is one billionth of a second. So when someone says they will be back in a nano, they mean a very, very short time.