Words with the prefix micro-
micro- means “very small; one millionth”, from Greek.
15 examples of the prefix micro-
- microbemicro- + biosvery small living organism
- microchipmicro- + chipvery small electronic chip
- microphonemicro- + phonedevice amplifying very small sounds
- microscopemicro- + scopeinstrument for viewing very small things
- microwavemicro- + wavevery short electromagnetic wave
- microfilmmicro- + filmvery small photographic film
- microbiologymicro- + biologystudy of very small organisms
- microclimatemicro- + climatevery small local climate area
- micrometermicro- + meterone millionth of a meter
- microorganismmicro- + organismvery small living organism
- microsecondmicro- + secondone millionth of a second
- microcosmmicro- + cosmosvery small version of world
- microgravitymicro- + gravityvery small gravitational force
- microprocessormicro- + processorvery small computing processing unit
- microsurgerymicro- + surgerysurgery on very small structures
How micro- works
The prefix 'micro-' attaches to nouns (and occasionally adjectives) without spelling changes, as it ends in a vowel that does not assimilate. It consistently reduces or intensifies the base concept toward extreme smallness or the technical unit of one millionth.
Watch out: The word 'micron' might seem to contain a base word, but it is itself derived directly from Greek 'mikron' (small) and is not a prefixed form.
To see prefixes combine with other parts, try the word dissector and root builder, or test yourself in the vocabulary quiz.
Other common prefixes
Questions people ask
What does the prefix micro- mean?
micro- means “very small; one millionth”. It comes from Greek. The prefix 'micro-' attaches to nouns (and occasionally adjectives) without spelling changes, as it ends in a vowel that does not assimilate. It consistently reduces or intensifies the base concept toward extreme smallness or the technical unit of one millionth.
What are some examples of words with the prefix micro-?
microbe, microchip, microphone, microscope, microwave, microfilm, microbiology, microclimate. The full list of 15 examples, with what each one literally means, is above.
Which words look like they have the prefix micro- but don’t?
The word 'micron' might seem to contain a base word, but it is itself derived directly from Greek 'mikron' (small) and is not a prefixed form.
What is a prefix?
A prefix is a word part added to the front of a base word or root to change its meaning, like un- in unhappy or re- in rewrite. It does not usually change the part of speech.