picosecond

P3I1C3O1S1E1C3O1N1D2
UK/ˈpiː.kəʊˌsɛk.ənd/

noun

An SI unit of time equal to 10⁻¹² seconds. Symbol: ps

“Meronyms: quectosecond < rontosecond < yoctosecond < zeptosecond < attosecond < femtosecond”

UncommonScrabble 17

Meanings

nounpicosecond (plural picoseconds)

plural picoseconds

  1. metrologyAn SI unit of time equal to 10⁻¹² seconds. Symbol: ps

    Meronyms: quectosecond < rontosecond < yoctosecond < zeptosecond < attosecond < femtosecond

    3 more examples

    Holonyms: nanosecond < microsecond < millisecond < centisecond < decisecond < second < decasecond < minute < hectosecond < kilosecond < hour < day < week < megasecond < fortnight < month < year < gigasecond < century < kiloannum, kiloyear, millennium < terasecond < mega-annum, megayear < petasecond < giga-annum, gigayear < exasecond < zettasecond < yottasecond < ronnasecond < quettasecond

    Hxh son all day any week and any hour any minute any second, any millisecond, any microsecond, any nanosecond any picosecond any femtosecond, any attosecond, any zeptosecond, any yoctosecond, any rontosecond, any quectosecond

    2025 May 23, King Chimera (chimera_4212), X

    sprunker: "ok ill delay the update by 67 years, 67 months, 67 days, 67 hours, 67 seconds, 67 deciseconds, 67 centiseconds, 67 milliseconds, 67 microseconds, 67 nanoseconds, 67 picoseconds, 67 femtoseconds, 67 attoseconds, 67 zeptoseconds, 67 yoctoseconds, 67 rontoseconds, 67 quectoseconds, and 67... plank ^([sic]) time????".

    2025 October 7, baldigaming285, somesillysprunker, “can we all laugh at this guy”, in Reddit, archived from the original on 17 Feb 2026

Origin

  1. Proto-Celtic*bekkos
  2. Gaulish*bekkosbor.?
  3. Latinbeccus
  4. Old Spanishbico
  5. Spanishpico
  6. Englishpico-
  7. Old Frenchseconde
  8. Middle Englishsecunde
  9. Englishsecond
  10. Englishpicosecond

From pico- (“metric prefix”) + second.

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Chinese Mandarin 皮秒, 微微秒
  • 皮秒 (pímiǎo)10−12 second
  • 微微秒 (wēiwēimiǎo)10−12 second
Czech pikosekunda
  • pikosekunda10−12 second
Dutch picoseconde
  • picoseconde10−12 second
Finnish pikosekunti
  • pikosekunti10−12 second
German Picosekunde
  • Picosekunde10−12 second
Greek πικοδευτερόλεπτο
  • πικοδευτερόλεπτο (pikodefterólepto)10−12 second
Hungarian pikoszekundum
  • pikoszekundum10−12 second
Malay pikosaat
  • pikosaat10−12 second
Swedish pikosekund
  • pikosekund10−12 second
Ukrainian пікосекунда
  • пікосекунда (pikosekunda)10−12 second

Rhymes & wordplay

Anagrams

Cite this entry
APA

picosecond. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/picosecond

MLA

“picosecond.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/picosecond. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “picosecond,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/picosecond.

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