マイクロ

マ

イ

ク

ロ

Common wordFreq.FrequencyTop 10,000

Meanings

1

noun-modifying (irregular)

Prenominal use meaning very small or one millionth. Common in technical and everyday compounds.

。

This machine operates with micro-level precision.

マイクロプラスチックが環かん境きょう問もん題だいになっている。

Microplastics have become an environmental issue.

2

abbreviation

Abbreviation of マイクロバス. Used in casual contexts for a small bus or van.

ミニN1sense 1
ミニ emphasizes small size in a general, everyday sense, while マイクロ specifically implies microscopic scale or a millionth unit, often in technical contexts.
ナノ
マイクロ means micro- (10^-6), a much larger scale unit prefix than ナノ (10^-9).
ピコ
マイクロ means 10^-6 (one millionth), which is much larger than ピコ's 10^-12.

マクロN1sense 1
マイクロ describes something extremely small or one millionth in scale, while マクロ describes something large-scale or macro in scope.

ミリN2sense 1
ミリ means one-thousandth (10^-3) while マイクロ means one-millionth (10^-6), so learners often mix up the scale each prefix represents.

Loanword from English 'micro', ultimately from Greek 'mikros' meaning small.

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