Etymology

zepto-

zep·to-

Today it means: In the International System of Units and other metric systems of units, multiplying the unit to which it is attached by 10⁻²¹ (short scale sextillionth or long scale trilliardth). Full definition →

Ancient Greek ἑπτᾰ́
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The story

  1. Ancient Greek · derived fromἑπτᾰ́“seven”
  2. English todayzepto-

From Ancient Greek ἑπτᾰ́ (heptắ, “seven”), for the seventh order of 10⁻³. The final o conforms to the finals vowel of the SI series from micro- downwards; the letter z was added, as a start in a series of terms running backwards through the alphabet.

Words from the same roots

Ancient Greekἑπτᾰ́ all →

zetta-

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.