pico-

combining form

1
: one trillionth (10−12) part of
picogram
2
: very small
picornavirus

Word History

Etymology

International Scientific Vocabulary, probably from Spanish pico small amount, literally, peak, beak

Dictionary Entries Near pico-

picnometer

pico-

Pico della Mirandola

See More Nearby Entries 

Cite this Entry

“Pico-.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/pico-. Accessed 19 Apr. 2024.

Copy Citation

Share

Kids Definition

pico-

combining form
pi·​co-
ˈpē-kō,
-kə
: one trillionth part of
Etymology

probably from Spanish pico "small amount," literally, "peak, beak"

More from Merriam-Webster on pico-

Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article about pico-

Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See All

Your vs. You're: How to Use Them Correctly

Every Letter Is Silent, Sometimes: A-Z List of Examples

More Commonly Mispronounced Words

How to Use Em Dashes (—), En Dashes (–) , and Hyphens (-)

Absent Letters That Are Heard Anyway
See All

Popular in Wordplay

See All

10 Words from Taylor Swift Songs (Merriam's Version)

A Great Big List of Bread Words

10 Scrabble Words Without Any Vowels

12 More Bird Names that Sound Like Insults (and Sometimes Are)

9 Superb Owl Words
See All

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Word Game You can make only 12 words. Pick the best ones!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
Missing Letter A crossword with a twist
winning words from the national spelling bee logo
Spelling Bee Quiz Can you outdo past winners of the National Spelli...