What does picosecond mean?
A picosecond is a unit of time equal to one trillionth of a second, written 10^-12 seconds. It is used in fields such as physics, electrical engineering, communications, and ultrafast imaging to measure durations that are far too brief for ordinary units such as seconds or milliseconds. For scale, light travels approximately 30 centimetres in a picosecond, while many modern electronic and optical systems operate on timing intervals measured in picoseconds. In technical writing, the word commonly appears in expressions involving timing, resolution, precision, delays, and laser pulses. Outside specialist contexts, "picosecond" can also serve figuratively: a phrase such as "a picosecond decision" conveys that a choice was made almost instantaneously. Because the term is precise and highly specialized, it usually appears in scientific, engineering, or semi-technical registers rather than in everyday conversation.
nounA unit of time equal to one trillionth of a second, or 10^-12 seconds. It is used especially in physics, electronics, and telecommunications to describe extremely short durations or time intervals.
- A unit of time equal to one trillionth of a second, or 10^-12 seconds.
- An extremely brief interval of time measured in picoseconds.
"The ultrafast laser system can resolve events that occur within a few picoseconds."
"The processor completes each operation in less than a picosecond."
"The researchers used a picosecond laser to capture the earliest stages of the reaction."
The plural is formed by adding -s and is used when referring to multiple units or intervals.
"The two events were separated by only a few picoseconds."
A picosecond is so brief that light travels only about 30 micrometres in that time—roughly the width of a few human cells.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of picosecond
Picosecond combines the SI prefix pico-, meaning one trillionth and derived from Italian piccolo, with the word second, the standard unit of time whose name ultimately comes from Latin secundus, meaning second or next. The prefix was adopted for very small quantities in the metric system and was later applied to units such as the ampere, farad, metre, watt, and second. Picosecond developed within the scientific vocabulary of the twentieth century as measurement became precise enough to describe extremely short processes.
Related word forms
How picosecond is actually used
Picosecond is primarily technical and scientific, though it can be used figuratively to emphasize the extreme brevity of an event. The singular form is used with quantities such as "one picosecond" and "a few picoseconds."
Easily confused with picosecond
A nanosecond is one billionth of a second, while a picosecond is one trillionth, so a nanosecond is 1,000 picoseconds.
A microsecond is one millionth of a second and is therefore 1,000,000 picoseconds.