秒
second (1/60 minute)
Readings
On'yomi
- ビョウ
Kun'yomi
—
Meaning
秒 centers on a tiny unit of time: the second, as a precise 1/60th of a minute. The idea is a very small, fine-grained measurement.
Most common words using 秒
20 of 29- 秒びょうN3
second (unit of time)
- 秒速びょうそく
speed per second; velocity per second
- 秒読みびょうよみN1
countdown
- 毎秒まいびょう
every second
- 秒針びょうしん
second hand (of clock)
- 3秒ルールさんびょうルール
three-second rule (food hygiene myth)
- 5秒ルールごびょうルール
five-second rule (food hygiene myth)
- コンマ秒コンマびょう
split second; instant
- ゼプト秒ゼプトびょう
zeptosecond
- ナノ秒ナノびょう
nanosecond; billionth of a second; ns
- ピコ秒ピコびょう
picosecond
- フェムト秒フェムトびょう
femtosecond
- フェムト秒化学フェムトびょうかがく
femtosecond chemistry; femtochemistry
- マイクロ秒マイクロびょう
microsecond
- ミリ秒ミリびょう
millisecond
- ワット秒ワットびょう
watt-second
- 一秒いちびょう
one second
- 分秒ふんびょう
moment
- 分秒を争うふんびょうをあらそう
to have no time to lose; to fight with every minute and every second
- 壊変毎秒かいへんまいびょう
decays per second; disintegrations per second; dps
Study
Etymology
秒 combines 禾 (grain) with 少 (few/little), suggesting the tiny awn or tip of a grain, which came to mean a very small unit of time.
Meaning mnemonic
The left side 禾 is a grain plant, and the right side 少 means 'few' or 'little'. Picture a tiny grain of rice falling, marking just one second—a very small unit of time.
Reading mnemonic
For ビョウ, imagine a tiny grain of rice falling every second, and you say 'byou' as it drops—like the English word 'by' stretched into 'byou'.