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nanite

nanite

29 9.9
Tiny machines like very small robots that work inside living cells or materials to change them
  • noun
  • /ˈnæn.aɪt/
translation icon : nanorobot
  • The nanites in the laboratory were programmed to repair tissue at a cellular level.
  • nanite attendants
  • nanite crew
  • nanites that control

Examples

  • The nanites absorb the kinetic energy... and hold it in place for redistribution.

  • In just six days, the nanites had improved his muscle tone and thickened his hair.

    Fiction book (1999)
  • I know what nanites are.

  • The last thing he could remember clearly was coming home with his wonderful new crew of nanite attendants.

    Fiction book (1999)
  • And just like our own bodies need calories, the nanites need their own energy.

  • Anyway, the nanites in these transponders do kind of the same thing.

  • As soon as the nanites enter her bloodstream, they'll start to alter her cells.

  • The nanites provide a stabilized neural interface.

  • That's heat being generated by the nanites battling malignant cancer, trying to save that mouse.

  • Chanda felt as if she could perceive the nanites she knew were coursing through every artery and vein, every organ in her body.

    Fiction book (2002)

Synonyms

nanomachine
vsnanite
  • Specialized
2 8.9

A very small machine that works with molecules to do tasks

is mainly a fictional device for manipulating matter rather than a technical tool
nanorobot
vsnanite
  • Specialized
1 6.7

A very small machine that works at a tiny scale to do exact tasks, often in medicine

is presented more as a fictional microscopic manipulator than a practical tool

How Small

nanite
29 9.9
nanomachine
  • Specialized
2 8.9
microdevice
  • Specialized
7.6
machine
1.0

Surface Forms

nanite singular
nanites plural

Morphology

nanite = nano (semi-transparent) = nano + ite

The size meaning from nano is clear, but the use of -ite to form a microscopic machine is only partly predictable.

Etymology

Nanite starts with nano-, from an old Greek word that means 'dwarf' or 'very small', and ends with -ite, a short ending that turns a word into a thing. So a nanite is a 'very small' thing — a tiny machine, which is why writers and scientists use it for microscopic robots that work inside bodies, devices, or materials.