micro-

micro- pref.  1. Very small; this is the root of its use as
   a quantifier prefix.  2. A quantifier prefix, calling for
   multiplication by 10^(-6) (see {{quantifiers}}).
   Neither of these uses is peculiar to hackers, but hackers tend to
   fling them both around rather more freely than is countenanced in
   standard English.  It is recorded, for example, that one CS
   professor used to characterize the standard length of his lectures
   as a microcentury -- that is, about 52.6 minutes (see also
   {attoparsec}, {nanoacre}, and especially
   {microfortnight}).  3. Personal or human-scale -- that is,
   capable of being maintained or comprehended or manipulated by one
   human being.  This sense is generalized from `microcomputer',
   and is esp. used in contrast with `macro-' (the corresponding
   Greek prefix meaning `large').  4. Local as opposed to global (or
   {macro-}).  Thus a hacker might say that buying a smaller car to
   reduce pollution only solves a microproblem; the macroproblem of
   getting to work might be better solved by using mass transit,
   moving to within walking distance, or (best of all) telecommuting.