Meanings
plural gigatrends
- A very major trend.
Gigatrends: The Boundary Conditions of Modern Life and their Formation
1982, Christopher Kaiser, “Course Syllabus: Christianity in a Technological Society”, in Science, Technology & Society, Lehigh University, page 664 more examples
An evolutionary gigatrend is far more basic and decisive than any trend currently known to managers and economists, including the megatrends popularized by John Naisbitt in the 1980s.
1997 February 28, Ervin László with Christopher Laszlo, The Insight Edge: An Introduction to the Theory and Practice of Evolutionary Management, Westport: Quorum Books, →ISBN, →LCCN, →OCLC, →OL, page 16Certainly, e-government is such a gigatrend[…] being just one of the myriad of evident, tangible ways that the Internet is changing relationships between individuals, businesses, and the government.
2003, David C. Wyld, “Transforming Procurement: The Potential of Auctions”, in Mark A. Abramson, Roland S. Harris, editors, The Procurement Revolution, new edition, Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield, →ISBN, →OL, page 313Although many gigatrends are interrelated, they can be discussed is^([sic]) several categories: human populations, ecosystems and forest ecosystems, human economics and technology, and forest technology and management.
2006 October 6, Alan Wittbecker, Good Forestry from Good Theories and Good Practices: Essays on Ecological Forestry & Ecological Design, Cambridge Books, →ISBN, →OCLC, →OLThis gigatrend is based in part on the notion of a society underpinned by a series of dichotomies between values and empirical facts, and between goals and means, etc.
2010 November 30, Jan-Eric Furubo with Ove Karlsson Vestman, “Evaluation: For Public Good or Professional Power?”, in Pearl Eliadis, Jan-Eric Furubo, Steve Jacob, editors, Evaluation: Seeking Truth or Power? (Comparative Policy Evaluation, Volume 17), New Brunswick: Transaction Publishers, →ISBN, →LCCN, →OCLC, page 14
Origin
From giga- + trend, using next larger SI prefix from megatrend.
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
gigatrend. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/gigatrend
“gigatrend.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/gigatrend. Accessed November 5, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “gigatrend,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/gigatrend.
Source: gigatrend on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.