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Glite Dictionary
nanowatt

nanowatt

1 7.0
A tiny unit of power equal to one billionth of a watt
  • noun
  • /ˈnænəˌwɑt/
  • Specialized
: nanovatio
  • The new device consumes less than one nanowatt of power during standby mode.

Examples

  • Researchers measured the signal strength in nanowatts to ensure minimal energy use.

  • A nanowatt is a very small unit of power.

  • Even a tiny sensor can operate efficiently at just a few nanowatts.

  • How many nanowatts does this sensor use?

  • Future technology is expected to operate using only a few nanowatts of power, making devices much more energy-efficient.

  • The solar panel produced an output of 150 nanowatts, demonstrating its effectiveness even in low-light conditions.

  • Researchers designed a sensor that consumes less than 10 nanowatts while maintaining high sensitivity.

Surface Forms

nanowatt singular
nanowatts plural

Morphology

nanowatt = watt (transparent) = nano + watt

The meaning is directly compositional: 'nano-' means one billionth and 'watt' is the unit of power.

Etymology

Nanowatt combines the prefix nano- and watt, where nano- means 'billionth' or 'very small' and watt is a common 'unit of power'. So a nanowatt is a very tiny amount of power, one 'billionth' of a watt, which is why we use the word for very low-power devices.