giga- [GIG uh or JIG uh] , gig-
(Greek: "giant"; a decimal prefix used in the international metric system for measurements)
Used in the extended sense of billion [U.S.] or thousand million fold [U.K.] in the metric [decimal] system: 109 [1 000 000 000]. The metric symbol is G.
gigabit
gigabyte
gigacycle
gigaelectrovolt
gigaflop
A billion calculations per second.
gigahertz
gigajoules
gigameters (British: gigametres)
gigapascal
gigasecond (Gs)
1. Human life expectancy about one century is equal to about three Gs.
2. One light-second (distance light travels in one second) about 0.3 Gm.
gigavolt
gigawatt
gigohm
Related "metric" families:
yotta;
zetta;
exa;
peta;
tera;
mega;
kilo;
hecto;
deka;
deci;
centi;
milli;
micro;
nano;
pico;
femto;
atto;
zepto;
yocto.
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