Make Your Point > Archived Issues > NANOSECOND
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pronounce
NANOSECOND:
Say it "NAN oh seck und."
To hear it, click here.
connect this word to others:
A literal nanosecond is so tiny, so itty-bitty, so infi_______al that it's hard (for me, at least) to even imagine it. So, a high five to my reader Ben, who shared this brief video with me of Admiral Grace Hopper using some bits of wire to explain how tiny a nanosecond is. Enjoy!
And can you recall that word with the blanks? It means "extremely tiny, or extremely insignificant." And it's six syllables long, which cracks me up.
(To reveal any word with blanks, give it a click.)
definition:
From a Greek word for "dwarf," the prefix "nano-" means "one billionth," or, less literally, "very, very itty-bitty."
Combine that with "second," and you get a nanosecond: a billionth of a second.
That's the literal meaning. Figuratively speaking, a nanosecond is an extremely short period of time.
grammatical bits:
Part of speech:
Noun, the countable kind: "It happened in a nanosecond;" "We're mere nanoseconds away from disaster."
Other forms:
Just the plural, "nanoseconds."
Sometimes we use "nanosecond" like an adjective: "a nanosecond flash of adrenaline (Salon);" "Being able to trade at the nanosecond level is vital to Nasdaq (New York Times)."
how to use it:
Compared to terms like "flash," "heartbeat," "split second," "blink of an eye," and "New York minute," the fun, scientific-sounding word "nanosecond" gives us a bit of flair, emphasis, and pseudo-precision as we exaggerate how quickly something happens.
"I'd take it in a nanosecond." "Their fame came and went in a nanosecond." "My day is packed; I don't have a nanosecond of free time."
examples:
"The video call is already running the nanosecond you swipe up to answer it."
— Dieter Bohn, The Verge, 16 August 2016
"I cook the beautiful beef and onion up with fajita spice, beef stock pot and tomato puree, then oven finish, topped with roasted sweet potatoes and fat shreds of mozzarella... the taste is elevated by the class of ingredients. I Hungry Hippo the leftovers in brutal nanoseconds, and pick at the pan."
— Rhik Samadder, The Guardian, 1 November 2017
has this page helped you understand "nanosecond"?
study it:
Explain the meaning of "nanosecond" without saying "split second" or "blink of an eye."
try it out:
In the Los Angeles Times, David Pagel said that these days, "time is measured in nanoseconds and impatience seems to be everyone's default setting."
In the Guardian, while encouraging us to boycott Amazon, Zoe Williams admits that "it's handy to get stuff a nanosecond after you realised you wanted it."
Talk about whether you agree or disagree with these writers. Figuratively speaking, do most of us get impatient these days after a nanosecond? Do we expect our wishes to be fulfilled in a nanosecond? Or are we more patient, more easygoing than these writers give us credit for?
before you review, play:
Try to spend 20 seconds or more on the game below. Don’t skip straight to the review—first, let your working memory empty out.
Our game for January is "Find the Missing Link."
In each chain of words, find the one that's missing from the middle. This missing link, according to a thesaurus, is a synonym of each word on its left and right. But as you'll see, the words on the left and right are most definitely not synonyms!
For example, if I give you "special → _____ → typical," then you answer, "peculiar," because sometimes "peculiar" means "special, different, odd," but other times it means "typical of this, specific to this, distinctively this."
To see the answer, scroll all the way down. Your answer might be different from mine but just as good. Enjoy!
Try this one today:
normal → _____ → fashionable
review this word:
1. Figuratively speaking, one opposite of NANOSECOND is
A. EON.
B. RELATIVITY.
C. MICROMACHINE.
2. With his nanosecond memory, he _____.
A. asks the same questions over and over
B. tells vivid stories, but only of the distant past
C. easily recalls names, dates, and long quotes from novels
a final word:
I hope you're enjoying Make Your Point. It's made with love.
I'm Liesl Johnson, a reading and writing tutor on a mission to explore, illuminate, and celebrate words.
From my blog:
36 ways to study words.
Why we forget words, & how to remember them.
How to use sophisticated words without being awkward.
To be a sponsor and include your ad in an issue, please contact me at Liesl@HiloTutor.com.
Disclaimer: When I write definitions, I use plain language and stick to the words' common, useful applications. If you're interested in authoritative and multiple definitions of words, I encourage you to check a dictionary. Also, because I'm American, I stick to American English when I share words' meanings, usage, and pronunciations; these elements sometimes vary across world Englishes.
Say it "NAN oh seck und."
A literal nanosecond is so tiny, so itty-bitty, so infi_______al that it's hard (for me, at least) to even imagine it. So, a high five to my reader Ben, who shared this brief video with me of Admiral Grace Hopper using some bits of wire to explain how tiny a nanosecond is. Enjoy!
From a Greek word for "dwarf," the prefix "nano-" means "one billionth," or, less literally, "very, very itty-bitty."
Part of speech:
Compared to terms like "flash," "heartbeat," "split second," "blink of an eye," and "New York minute," the fun, scientific-sounding word "nanosecond" gives us a bit of flair, emphasis, and pseudo-precision as we exaggerate how quickly something happens.
"The video call is already running the nanosecond you swipe up to answer it."
Explain the meaning of "nanosecond" without saying "split second" or "blink of an eye."
In the Los Angeles Times, David Pagel said that these days, "time is measured in nanoseconds and impatience seems to be everyone's default setting."
Try to spend 20 seconds or more on the game below. Don’t skip straight to the review—first, let your working memory empty out.
1. Figuratively speaking, one opposite of NANOSECOND is
I hope you're enjoying Make Your Point. It's made with love.
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