mega-

mega-

a prefix meaning ‘great’, continues to be used in scientific and technical applications, often with the specific meaning ‘denoting a factor of one million’ (as in the computing unit megabyte and in the statistical term megadeath denoting the deaths of a million people). In the 20c it took on a more informal role in words such as megastar, megahit, megastore, and megabucks (a huge amount of money), and became detached in the form mega, meaning ‘excellent’ or (as an adverb) ‘extremely’:

• It has never been my ambition to be mega famous or mega rich-I've just wanted to make a living —People, 2007.