micro-
micro-: prefisso
Let’s get something straight about micro-scooters; anyone over the age of 10 looks ridiculous on them.
The Bond Bug – what an iconic micro car!
Our sustainable two-storey self assembly micro home features a living room, snug kitchen, toilet/bath room on the ground floor and steps leading to a double bed and closet on the first floor.
We specialise in micro pigs and are a trusted, reputable micro pig breeder.
The US is a very diverse place. This means that it will have a large number of microcultures to go along with its macroculture.
The micro-celebrity grew up having obstacles swept away from their path, and dangers removed by helicopter parents.
If you’ve ever worked with a micromanager, you know how unproductive and demoralizing it can be.
In inglese, micro-, dal greco μικρoς ‘piccolo’, è un prefisso largamente usato nella formazione di parole composte che rientrano in tre gruppi di termini. Il primo gruppo, piuttosto ristretto, appartiene al linguaggio tecnico: anteposto a un’unità di misura micro- la divide per un milione, vedi ad esempio microsecond, microgram e microvolt. Nel secondo gruppo, anch’esso limitato, il prefisso assume il significato di ‘miniaturizzato’ e include termini come microdot e microfilm. Il terzo gruppo, il più consistente, comprende parole formate con il terzo significato di micro-, quello generico di ‘piccolo’. La maggior parte dei neologismi va a ingrossare le file di quest’ultimo gruppo.
Molte parole formate con micro- significano ‘microscopico, visibile solo al microscopio’, per esempio microorganism e microchip, o comunque indicano una relazione con il microscopio, come microsurgery; altre si riferiscono ad attività su piccola scala, ad esempio microcredit o microbrewery. Altre ancora esprimono il carattere circoscritto di qualcosa, vedi microclimate, microeconomics e microculture. Ma sono tantissime le parole che semplicemente servono a designare una versione più piccola di qualcos’altro: micro car, micro scooter, micro home, microskirt e micro pig sono solo alcuni esempi. Talvolta il prefisso assume una sfumatura peggiorativa, come accade nel verbo micromanage e i sostantivi da esso derivati micromanager e micromanagement, con cui si vuol esprime la critica a uno stile di gestione che presta un’eccessiva attenzione ai dettagli, e nel termine micro-celebrity, che indica qualcuno famoso solo tra un ristretto gruppo di persone o in un’area limitata d’intersse, specialmente sul web.
micro-: prefix
Let’s get something straight about micro-scooters; anyone over the age of 10 looks ridiculous on them.
The Bond Bug – what an iconic micro car!
Our sustainable two-storey self assembly micro home features a living room, snug kitchen, toilet/bath room on the ground floor and steps leading to a double bed and closet on the first floor.
We specialise in micro pigs and are a trusted, reputable micro pig breeder.
The US is a very diverse place. This means that it will have a large number of microcultures to go along with its macroculture.
The micro-celebrity grew up having obstacles swept away from their path, and dangers removed by helicopter parents.
If you’ve ever worked with a micromanager, you know how unproductive and demoralizing it can be.
Micro-, from the Greek mikros meaning ‘small’, is a very productive prefix in English. The words beginning with it fall into three distinct groups. The first is technical, and relates to the meaning of ‘one of a million parts of something’. This group is quite restricted and includes words like microsecond, microgram, and microvolt. The second set of words, also small, relates to the meaning ‘reduced in size’; it includes words like microdot and microfilm. New words are added to these two groups infrequently. By far the largest group consists of words formed with the third meaning of micro-, the one that simply means ‘small’. This group is much larger and very diverse, and new words are added to it all the time.
Many micro- words simply indicate that the thing referred to is very small, like a microorganism or a microchip. Some refer to activities that take place on a small scale or at a very detailed level, like microsurgery, microcredit or microbrewery. Others indicate that we are dealing with a subsection of a much larger whole – microclimate, microeconomics, microculture. Yet another group refers to things that are not particularly small, nor a subsection of anything, but just a smaller version of the usual item: this is the case with micro car, micro scooter, micro home, microskirt and micro pig. Occasionally the prefix has a pejorative tone: this is the case with micromanage/-r/-ment, which suggests excessive concern with detail and micro-celebrity, someone who is well-known only among a restricted group of people or in a limited area of activity, especially online.
