nanosegundo

nanosecond

noun nah-noh-seh-GOON-doh Rare

Origin: From Greek nanos (dwarf) + Latin secundus.

Usage Note

Nanosegundo is one billionth of a second (10⁻⁹ s), used in electronics and computing: la velocidad de procesamiento se mide en nanosegundos. In informal speech en un nanosegundo is used hyperbolically to mean 'in an instant', much like English. It is masculine, following segundo.

Examples

"Los procesadores modernos operan en nanosegundos."

Natural Translation

Modern processors operate in nanoseconds.

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