mega-

pref.

1. Large: megadose.
2. Surpassing other examples of its kind; extraordinary: megahit.
3. One million (10⁶): megahertz.
4. 1,048,576 (2²⁰): megabyte.

[Greek, from megas, great.]

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a prefix meaning 'great', continues to be used in scientific and technical applications, often with the specific meaning 'denoting a factor of one million' (as in the computing unit megabyte and in the statistical term megadeath denoting the deaths of a million people). In the 20th century it took on a more informal role in words such as megastar, megahit, megastore, and megabucks (a huge amount of money), and became detached in the form mega, meaning 'excellent' or (as an adverb) 'extremely':

It has never been my ambition to be mega famous or mega rich-I've just wanted to make a living—People, 2007.

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[Etymology: Gk: ‘great’] Symbol M-. (Metric) The 10⁶ multiplier, e.g. 1 megajoule = 1 MJ = 10⁶ J; contractable to meg- before a vowel, e.g. 1 megohm = 1 MΩ = 10⁶ Ω.

informatics Sometimes 1 048 576 = 2²⁰, but see mebi- then kibi-.

(1) Million (10 to the 6th power). Abbreviated "M," it is a prefix for capacities and speeds (megabits, megabytes, megahertz, etc.). Mega may refer to 1,000,000 or 1,048,576, the latter based on the binary system (see NIST binary). See MB, meg, binary values and space/time.

(2) A prefix attached to common, non-computer words that means a very large size or quantity. For example, "megabucks" means a lot of money. Both "mega" and "giga" are used in this manner, although mega means million and giga means billion. See giga.

(3) (MEGA) A brand name for various models of Atari's ST and STE personal computers. See ST and Atari.

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Metric prefix denoting multiplication by 10 6 or 1,000,000. In measuring the capacity of computer disks and RAM, equivalent to x2 20 or 1,048,576.

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[SI] See quantifiers.

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For a list of words related to mega-, see:

• Combining Forms - mega-: one million of given base unit
• Prefixes - mega-: great (megalopolis)

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Dansk (Danish)
pref. - (forstav.) vældig stor, kæmpestor

Français (French)
pref. - (préf) méga- (dans les composés) signifiant très/extrêmement, million

Deutsch (German)
pref. - mega-, Mega...

Ελληνική (Greek)
pref. - μεγα-

Español (Spanish)
pref. - mega

Svenska (Swedish)
pref. - mega-

中文（简体）(Chinese (Simplified))
大, 百万倍

中文（繁體）(Chinese (Traditional))
pref. - 大, 百萬倍

한국어 (Korean)
pref. - 매우 큰

العربيه (Arabic)
‏(بادئه الكلم- ه) مليار‏

עברית (Hebrew)
pref. - ‮גדול, פי מיליון‬

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