32 Chapter 2

10¹ deka or deca (da), from Greek deka ten,

10^-1 deci (d), from Latin decimus, tenth

10² hecto (h), from Greek hekaton, hundred,

10^-2 centi (c), from Latin centum, hundred

10³ kilo (K),, from Greek chilioi, thousand

10^-3 milli (m), from Latin mille, thousand

10⁶ mega (M), from Greek megas, large ,

10^-6 micro ,from Latin micro -(Greek micros), small

10⁹ giga (G), from Greek gigas, giant,

10^-9 nano (n),, from Latin nanus (Greek nanos), dwarf

10¹² tera (T), from Greek teras, monster,

10^-12 pico (p),, from Spanish pico or Italian piccolo, small

10¹⁵ penta (P), from Greek pente, five

10^-15 femto (f),, from Danish-Norwegian femten, fifteen

10¹⁸ exa (E), from Greek hex, six

10^-18 atto (a), from Danish-Norwegian atten, eighteen

10²¹ zetta (Z), from Latin septem, seven

10^-21 zepto (z), from Latin septem, seven

10²⁴ yotta (Y), from Greek or Latin octo, eight

10^-24 yocto (y), from Greek or Latin octo. eight

Prefix

Meaning

a - , ab -

not having

ambi -

Both

anti -

Against

bi -

having or involving two, coming or occurring twice

mono -, uni -

single, one

tri -

having or involving three, coming or occurring three times

by-

Secondary

co -, corn -, col -, con -, cor -

together with

dis -, mis -, mal -

not, bad, wrong,

ex-

out, from

extra -

beyond, outside

fore -

before (in time or order)

pre -, ante -

before, prior

contra -,

Against

in -, im -, ir -, il -, un -

Not

inter -

Between

micro -

Small

multi -, poly -

more than one or two, many

octo -, octa -

Eight

out -

to do better than

post -

After

pseudo -

not real, false

quadra -

four, one-fourth

retro -

Backward

semi -, hemi -, demi -

Half

sept-

Seven

sub -

under, below, beneath, underneath, lower

syn -

same, together

trans -

Across

over -

too much

under -

too little