nano- [NA noh], nan-, nanno-, -nania

(Greek: dwarf, dwarfish; pygmy; "little old man;" very small or tiny; also, a decimal prefix used in the international metric system for measurements)

This prefix is used in the metric [decimal] system as billionth [U.S.] and thousand-millionth [U.K.], 10-9 [0.000 000 001]. The metric symbol for nano- is n.

nanocephalous
Having an abnormally or extremely small head.
nanocephaly
1. An abnormally small head and underdeveloped brain.
2. An abnormally small head of a newborn with a congenitally small brain; microcephaly.
nanocircuit (s) (noun), nanocircuits (pl)
A computer circuit built and assembled on a single carbon nanotube: The nanocircuit is one-fifth the width of a human hair and can only be viewed under an electron microscope.

The nanocircuit is not designed to be used in a computer chip; instead, it is proof that allows a research team to test the switching speed of its design.

While using a nanocircuit, researchers have claimed that they could achieve a speed of 50 megahertz, hundreds of times slower than the gigahertz speeds of silicon processors seen in most personal computers; however, the researchers say the circuit is 100,000 times faster than any previously recorded for a device made with a carbon nanotube, and with continued refinement they hope to push speeds beyond those possible today.

nanocircuitry
nanocomposites
nanocranous
nanocrystalline silicon
A form of silicon used as a light-absorbing semiconductor in photovoltaic cells; similar to amorphous silicon (a-Si), in that it has an amorphous phase, but nc-Si has small grains of crystalline silicon within the amorphous phase.
nanocurie
nanoequivalent
nanofabrication
nanofarad (nF)
A common metric unit of electric capacitance equal to 10-9 farad, the SI unit of electric capacitance.

This unit was previously called the millimicrofarad (mµF).

nanofossil
Any fossil so small that it is near or below the limit of resolution of a light microscope.
nanogram
1. One-billionth of a gram (10-9 g).
2. One billionth (1/1,000,000,000) gram: NG.
nanoid
Dwarfish; resembling a dwarf.
nanoinstructions (pl) (noun)
In microprogramming control organization, the decoded microinstructions stored in lower-level control memory.

Additional topics are available at Nanotechnology: Index of Articles.

Related "few, small, less, little" word units: micro-; mini-; mio-, meio-; oligo-, olig-.


Related "metric" families: yotta; zetta; exa; peta; tera; giga; mega; kilo; hecto; deka; deci; centi; milli; micro; pico; femto; atto; zepto; yocto.