nanosecond

noun

nano·​sec·​ond ˈna-nə-ˌse-kənd 

-kənt

1

: one billionth of a second

2

: a very brief moment

Did you know?

The nonserious use of nanosecond is probably much more common than the proper technical use. In measurement terms such as nanosecond, nanogram, and nanometer, nano- means "billionth;" in other kinds of words, its meaning isn't quite so precise. In computers, the speed of reading and writing to random access memory (RAM) is measured in nanoseconds. By comparison, the speed of reading or writing to a hard drive or a CD-ROM player, or for information to travel over the Internet, is measured in milliseconds (thousandths of a second), which are a million times longer than nanoseconds.

Synonyms

• beat
• eyeblink
• flash
• heartbeat
• instant
• jiff
• jiffy
• minute
• moment
• New York minute
• second
• shake
• split second
• trice
• twinkle
• twinkling
• wink

Examples of nanosecond in a Sentence

It happens in less than a nanosecond.

a nanosecond was about all that it took her to accept his marriage proposal

Recent Examples on the Web

That would prompt me to upgrade to a theoretical MagSafe Battery Pack in a nanosecond. —Steven Aquino, Forbes, 30 Sep. 2024

These simulations were able to determine details like how quickly the energy of the X-rays was deposited into the sample (90 percent of the energy in just 14 nanoseconds) and the pressures generated by the rapidly expanding gas. —John Timmer, Ars Technica, 24 Sep. 2024

The most precise and accurate atomic clock in the world, the ultracold strontium clock at JILA in Boulder, is like a stopwatch that can count the billionths of a nanosecond, or 18 digits past the decimal point. —Allison Parshall, Scientific American, 11 Sep. 2024

Positions on Earth are calculated based on the transit times of satellite signals to ground receivers; a time measurement that is off by just one nanosecond produces a distance error of 30 centimeters. —Becky Ferreira, WIRED, 4 Sep. 2024

Word History

Etymology

International Scientific Vocabulary

First Known Use

1958, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Kids Definition

nanosecond

noun

nano·​sec·​ond ˈnan-ə-ˌsek-ənd 

-ənt

: one billionth of a second

Medical Definition

nanosecond

noun

nano·​sec·​ond -ˌsek-ənd, -ənt 

: one billionth of a second

—abbreviation ns, nsec