micro-

See also: micro and Micro

Translingual

Etymology

Borrowed from New Latin micro- (“small”), borrowed from Ancient Greek μῑκρο- (mīkro-), from μῑκρός (mīkrós, “small”).

Prefix

micro-

Very small.
‎micro- + ‎Cebus → ‎Microcebus
(metric units) One millionth (10⁻⁶).
Synonym: μ-

‎micro- + ‎gram → ‎microgram

Derived terms

English

Pronunciation

(stress on first syllable; e.g., microscope): enPR: mī′krə-, mī′krō-

(Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈmaɪ.kɹə-/, /ˈmaɪ.kɹəʊ-/
(General American, Canada) IPA^(key): /ˈmaɪ.kɹə-/, (Canadian raising) [ˈmʌɪ̯.kɹə-], /ˈmaɪ.kɹoʊ-/, (Canadian raising) [ˈmʌɪ̯.kɹoʊ-]
- Audio (California): (file)
(Australia) IPA^(key): /ˈmɑe.kɹə-/, /ˈmɑe.kɹəʉ-/
(New Zealand) IPA^(key): [ˈmɑe̯.kɹə-], [ˈmɑe̯.kɹɐʉ-]

(stress on second syllable; e.g., microscopy): enPR: mī-krŏ′-

(Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /maɪˈkɹɒ-/
(General American, Atlantic Canada) IPA^(key): /maɪˈkɹɑ-/
(Canada, Boston, Maine) IPA^(key): /maɪˈkɹɒ-/
(Australia) IPA^(key): /mɑeˈkɹɔ-/
(New Zealand) IPA^(key): [mɑe̯ˈkɹɔ̟]

Alternative forms

micr- (before vowels)

Etymology 1

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *mey-der.?

Ancient Greek μῑκρός (mīkrós)

Ancient Greek μῑκρο- (mīkro-)lbor.

English micro-

Learned borrowing from Ancient Greek μῑκρο- (mīkro-), from μῑκρός (mīkrós, “small”). By surface analysis, micr- +‎ -o-.

Prefix

SI prefix
µ	Previous:	nano-
µ	Next:	milli-

micro-

(diminutive) Very small.
Near-synonyms: (prefixes) mini-, nano- (loose sense); (suffixes) -cule, -ee, -el, -et, -ette, -icle, -ie, -kin, -le, -let, -ling, -ole, -ule, -y

‎micro- + ‎organism → ‎microorganism
- 2025 July 1, Kimanzi Constable, “What is a micro-retirement? Inside the latest Gen Z trend”, in Fast Company‎^[1], archived from the original on 9 July 2025:
  Gen Z is using micro-retirement to avoid burnout, find greater fulfillment in their work, and enhance their overall well-being. However, it’s not just Gen-Z: According to a survey from Side Hustles, 10% of workers are considering taking a micro-retirement and 75% thought employers should offer micro-retirement policies such as unpaid sabbaticals.
(metric units) One millionth.
‎micro- + ‎gram → ‎microgram

Usage notes

(one millionth): Officially, micro- is abbreviated as µ- (the Greek letter mu); for example, one second is 1 s, so one microsecond is 1 µs. However, for many purposes this is inconvenient, so writers often use either u- (for its similar appearance to µ-) or mc-, producing, for example, 1 um (one micrometer) and 1 mcg (one microgram). See also mcg § Usage notes.

microinverse
microlateral
micronormal

English terms prefixed with micro- (very small)

microcharacterization

microcompartmentalization

microcompartmentation

microelectromechanical

English terms prefixed with micro- (millionth)

Translations

very small

Afrikaans: mikro-
Armenian: միկրո- (mikro-)
Belarusian: мікра- (mikra-)
Bulgarian: микро- (mikro-)
Catalan: micro- (ca)
Chinese:
Mandarin: 微- (zh) (wēi-)
Czech: mikro- (cs)
Dutch: micro- (nl)
Esperanto: mikro-
Finnish: mikro- (fi)
French: micro- (fr)
Galician: micro- (gl)
Georgian: მიკრო- (miḳro-)
German: mikro- (de)
Greek: μικρο- (el) (mikro-)
Ancient Greek: μικρο- (mikro-)
Hebrew: מיקרו־ (he) (míkro-), מיקרו (míkro)
Hungarian: mikro- (hu)
Irish: micri-
Italian: micro- (it)
Japanese: マイクロ- (maikuro-)
Malay: mikro- (ms)
Occitan: micro- (oc)
Polish: mikro- (pl)
Portuguese: micro- (pt)
Russian: микро- (ru) (mikro-)
Slovene: mikro-
Spanish: micro- (es)
Swedish: mikro- (sv)
Translingual: micro-
Turkish: mikro-

millionth

Afrikaans: mikro-
Armenian: միկրո- (mikro-)
Belarusian: мікра- (mikra-)
Bulgarian: микро- (mikro-)
Catalan: micro- (ca)
Chinese:
Mandarin: 微- (zh) (wēi-)
Czech: mikro- (cs)
Dutch: micro- (nl)
Esperanto: mikro-
Finnish: mikro- (fi)
French: micro- (fr)
Galician: micro- (gl)
Georgian: მიკრო- (miḳro-)
German: mikro- (de)
Greek: μικρο- (el) (mikro-)
Hebrew: מיקרו־ (he) (míkro-), מיקרו (míkro)
Hungarian: mikro- (hu)
Icelandic: míkró-
Indonesian: mikro- (id)
Italian: micro- (it)
Japanese: マイクロ (ja) (maikuro)
Malay: mikro- (ms)
Occitan: micro- (oc)
Polish: mikro- (pl)
Portuguese: micro- (pt)
Russian: микро- (ru) (mikro-)
Slovene: mikro-
Spanish: micro- (es)
Swedish: mikro- (sv)
Tagalog: mik-
Translingual: micro-, μ-
Turkish: mikro-
Vietnamese: mi-crô (vi)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked