giga-

UK/ˈɡɪɡ.ə/UK/ˈɡaɪ.ɡə/US/ˈd͡ʒɪɡ.ə/

prefix

In the International System of Units and other metric systems of units, multiplying the unit to which it is attached by 10⁹ (short scale billion or long scale milliard).

“giga- + Chad → gigachad”

Similar
gibi-mul:Gi-super-supra-hyper-ultra-uber-mega-
Opposite
nano-mini-micro-
OriginAncient Greek γίγας (gígas) →
Ask AI about this wordChatGPTClaudePerplexityGoogle AIGrok

Meanings

prefix
  1. In the International System of Units and other metric systems of units, multiplying the unit to which it is attached by 10⁹ (short scale billion or long scale milliard).

    giga- + watt → gigawatt ("one billion watts")

    Antonyms: nano-

  2. proscribedsometimescomputingMultiplying the unit to which it is attached by 2³⁰ or 1,073,741,824.

    Synonyms: gibi-, mul:Gi-

  3. slangAugmenting an adjective; intensely, extremely, or to an exceptionally high degree.

    Wow, I am giga-jealous right now.

    Synonyms: super-, supra-, hyper-, ultra-, uber-, mega- · Antonyms: mini-, micro-, nano-

  4. InternetUsed to augment nouns; denoting an invididual who is a paragon of something.

    giga- + Chad → gigachad

    1 more example

    giga- + Stacy → gigastacy

Synonyms & antonyms

prefixIn the International System of Units and other metric systems of units, multiplying the unit to which it is attached by 10⁹ (short scale billion or long scale milliard).

Opposite
nano-

prefixMultiplying the unit to which it is attached by 2³⁰ or 1,073,741,824.

Similar
gibi-mul:Gi-

prefixAugmenting an adjective; intensely, extremely, or to an exceptionally high degree.

Similar
super-supra-hyper-ultra-uber-mega-
Opposite
mini-micro-nano-
Also see
arch-gibi-grandgreathyper-macro-mega-over-super-supra-uber-ultra--zilla

Origin

  1. Ancient GreekΓίγας (Gígas)
  2. Ancient Greekγίγας (gígas)
  3. Englishgiga-

From Ancient Greek γίγας (gígas, “giant”); cognate to giant.

More words from Ancient Greek

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Bulgarian гига-
  • гига- (giga-)SI prefix
Catalan giga-
  • giga-SI prefix
Chinese Cantonese 吉-, 激-
  • 吉- (gat¹)SI prefix
  • 激- (gik¹)SI prefix
Chinese Mandarin 吉-, 吉咖-
  • 吉- (jí-)SI prefix
  • 吉咖- (jígā-, jíkā-)SI prefix
Czech giga-
  • giga-SI prefix
Dutch giga-
  • giga-SI prefix
Estonian giga-
  • giga-SI prefix
Finnish giga-
  • giga-SI prefix
French giga-
  • giga-SI prefix
German giga-
  • giga-SI prefix
Greek γίγα-
  • γίγα- (gíga-)SI prefix
Hungarian giga-
  • giga-SI prefix
Indonesian giga-
  • giga-SI prefix
Japanese ギガ
  • ギガ (giga)SI prefix
Korean 기가-
  • 기가- (giga-)SI prefix
Malay giga-
  • giga-SI prefix
Polish giga-
  • giga-SI prefix
Portuguese giga-
  • giga-SI prefix
Russian гига-
  • гига- (giga-)SI prefix
Spanish giga-
  • giga-SI prefix
Thai จิกะ-, กิกะ-
  • จิกะ- (jì-gà)SI prefix
  • กิกะ- (gì-gà)SI prefix
Vietnamese gi-ga
  • gi-gaSI prefix
Cite this entry
APA

giga-. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/giga-

MLA

“giga-.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/giga-. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “giga-,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/giga-.

Source: giga- on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.