mega- (symbol M) is an SI prefix in the SI system of units denoting a factor of 10⁶, i.e. one million; 1 000 000.

Confirmed in 1960, it comes from the Greek μέγας, meaning great.

For example, 1 MW (megawatt) = 1 000 000 watts = 1 000 kilowatts.

Other common examples of usage

• one megaton TNT (a unit often used in measuring the explosive power of nuclear weapons) is 1 000 000 tTNT.
• megahertz - frequency of electromagnetic radiation for radio and televion broadcasting, GSM, etc. 1 MHz = 1 000 000 Hz

Computing

In computing, mega- can sometimes denote 1 048 576 (2²⁰) of information units (example: a megabyte, a megaword), but can denote 1 000 000 (10⁶) of other quantities, for example, transfer rates: 1 megabit/s = 1 000 000 bit/s.

The prefix mebi- has been suggested as an alternative for 2²⁰ to avoid ambiguity, but is yet to be widely used.

See also

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• SI prefix
• Binary prefix
• Mebibyte

External links

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• BIPM website

Other uses for the word Mega

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• The prefix "mega-" (or "megalo-") also means "large", coming from a Greek word with that exact meaning. An example of a word with "mega" meaning large is Megalosaurus.
• La Mega is a station in Panama and is on 98.5 FM
• Mega is also the name of a town in Ethiopia
• Mega Channel is also the Greek language terrestrial station of Greece and Cyprus.
• Mega is also a short name for the Chilean TV channel "Red Televisiva Megavisión".
• Mega is a French role-playing game (three editions, 1984, 1986, and 1992)
• Mega is the highest level reachable by a Digimon.
• Mega Flare has always been the attack of the Final Fantasy series' summon Bahamut.
• For the former Indonesian president, see Megawati Sukarnoputri.
• For the very large number, see Steinhaus–Moser notation.
• Mega is also the name of a largely unknown, complex, philosophically-grounded religious outlook on the universe and all its tangible and abstract contents as fundamentally unnecessary.
• MEGA is also the acronym name of various post-graduate associations in university departments around the world MEGA_Post-Graduate_Associations
• MEGA is also the name given to the recently discovered underwater ruins off the northwest tip of Cuba. It is discussed on this BLOG.
• Mega (aka ConMega) is also the name of a very unknown Queens Bridge rapper that is hated by Nas, and is not a very good rapper.
• The Mega Society for people with very high scores on intelligence tests

SI prefixes

Mega | Mega | Mega | Mega- | Mega | Méga | 메가 | Mega | Mega | メガ | Mega | Mega | Mega | Mega | Mega | Mega | Мега | Mega | Mega | Mêga | 巨