Where does “megaparsec” come from?

megaparsec (English) comes from English mega, from Ancient Greek μέγας, from Proto-Indo-European meǵh₂s — great.

megaparsec (English): A unit of distance equal to a million parsecs

Definitions

  1. A unit of distance equal to a million parsecs

Ancestry of “megaparsec”, step by step

megaparsec traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.

via English mega

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1EnglishmegaVery large; great; excellent
2Ancient Greekμέγαςbig, large; great, mighty, loud; marvelous,...
3Proto-Indo-Europeanmeǵh₂sgreat

via English parsec

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Englishparsecparallax second
2Englishparallax secondA unit of length, used in astronomy, defined as...

Words derived from “megaparsec

Every word from Proto-Indo-European meǵh₂sEvery word from Ancient Greek μέγαςEvery word from English mega