mega-

especially before a vowel, meg-.

1. variant of megalo- (megalith ); also the initial element in units of measure that are equal to one million of the units denoted by the base word (megahertz ). M

mega-

¹

combining form

1. M. denoting 10 ⁶

   megawatt

2. (in computer technology) denoting 2 ²⁰ (1 048 576)

   megabyte

3. large or great

   megalith

4. informal,  great in importance or amount

   megastar

mega

²

/ ˈmɛɡə /

adjective

1. slang,  extremely good, great, or successful

mega–

1. A prefix that means:

2. Large, as in megadose, a large dose.

3. One million, as in megahertz, one million hertz.

4. 2 ²⁰ (that is, 1,048,576), which is the power of 2 closest to a million, as in megabyte.

Word History and Origins

Origin of mega–¹

Combining form representing Greek mégas large, great

Word History and Origins

Origin of mega–¹

from Greek megas huge, powerful

Origin of mega–²

C20: probably independent use of _mega-

Example Sentences

“It’s not like we’re building one data center in one region in the world that’s mega scale. We are building it out across the globe for inference, for pre-training, for post-training,” a reference to different types of AI workloads.

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They have the mega mega mega stars like Shohei Ohtani, but L.A.’s big advantage is its alleged depth.

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It said Siemens was the first company to develop software that supports its technology, known as Mega Omniverse Blueprint.

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“Things could get spooky… if mega caps disappoint ahead of Halloween with valuations near historic highs for many,” Joe Mazzola, the head trading and derivatives strategist at Charles Schwab, said in emailed comments earlier this week.

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“Most of the focus during mega cap earnings week will remain on the growth of AI compute demand, which we believe is still significant,” wrote D.A.

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Related Words

• commanding 
• grand 
• grandiose 
• imperial 
• magnificent 
• massive 
• monumental 
• noble 
• ominous 
• stately 
• striking 
• towering 

When To Use

What does mega- mean?

Mega- is a combining form used like a prefix meaning “large, great, grand, abnormally large.” It is used in many scientific and medical terms.In science, mega- is specifically used as a prefix in units of measure equaling a factor of “one million.” It’s abbreviation is M. So, a megawatt (MW) is one million watts.Mega- comes from the Greek mégas, meaning “large” or “great.”What are variants of mega-?When combined with words or word elements that begin with a vowel, mega- becomes meg-, as in megohm.Mega- is a variant of megalo- and megal-, as in megalomania and megalopsia. Learn more about their specific applications in our Words That Use articles.