Informal great in size, quantity, etc., often in relation to others of its kind
mega
mega-mega-
- large, great, powerful: megacephalic, megaphone
- Informal
- huge in size, number, etc.: a mega-yacht
- to an enormous degree: mega-popular
- one million; the factor 10: megahertz, megaton
Also, before a vowel, meg-
Origin of mega-
Classical Greek mega- from megas, great, mighty: see muchWebster's New World College Dictionary, Fifth Edition Copyright © 2014 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
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mega-
prefix
- Large: megadose.
- Surpassing other examples of its kind; extraordinary: megahit.
- One million (106): megahertz.
- 1,048,576 (220): megabyte.
Origin of mega-
Greek from megas great ; see meg- in Indo-European roots.THE AMERICAN HERITAGE® DICTIONARY OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE, FIFTH EDITION by the Editors of the American Heritage Dictionaries. Copyright © 2016, 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
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- A prefix that means:
- Large, as in megadose, a large dose.
- One million, as in megahertz, one million hertz.
- 220 (that is, 1,048,576), which is the power of 2 closest to a million, as in megabyte.
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mega. (n.d.). Retrieved January 14th, 2019, from https://www.yourdictionary.com/mega
- mega-
Origin
From the prefix mega-.
Prefix
- (originally) Very large, great. Denoting a size larger than usual.
- In the International System of Units and other metric systems of units, multiplying the unit to which it is attached by one million (106.) SI Symbol: M, computing abbreviation: Mi.
- (computing) Multiplying the unit to which it is attached by 220 (= 1,048,576, the binary round number closest to a million).
- (computing, marketing) Multiplying the unit to which it is attached by 210 × 103 (= 1024,000, the binary round number closest to thousand).
Usage notes
Origin
From Ancient Greek μÎγας (megas, “great, large, mighty"), from Proto-Indo-European *meǵhâ‚‚s (“great"). Cognate with Latin magnus, and with Germanic words: Gothic ðŒ¼ðŒ¹ðŒºðŒ¹ðŒ»ðƒ (mikils), Old English micel, Middle English muchel, English much, Old High German mihhil, Old Norse mikill, Danish meget.
English Wiktionary. Available under CC-BY-SA license.
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mega- - Computer Definition
See M.
Webster's New World Telecom Dictionary Copyright © 2010 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Indianapolis, Indiana.
Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
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(1) Million (10 to the 6th power). Abbreviated "M," it is a prefix for capacities and speeds (megabits, megabytes, megahertz, etc.). Mega may refer to 1,000,000 or 1,048,576, the latter based on the binary system (see NIST binary). See MB, meg, binary values and space/time.
(2) A prefix attached to common, non-computer words that means a very large size or quantity. For example, "megabucks" means a lot of money. Both "mega" and "giga" are used in this manner, although mega means million and giga means billion. See giga.
(3) (MEGA) A brand name for various models of Atari's ST and STE personal computers. See ST and Atari.
Computer Desktop Encyclopedia THIS DEFINITION IS FOR PERSONAL USE ONLY All other reproduction is strictly prohibited without permission from the publisher. © 1981-2017 The Computer Language Company Inc. All rights reserved.
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mega. (n.d.). Retrieved January 14th, 2019, from https://www.yourdictionary.com/mega
