來源于西班牙語pico 意為"a little over, a small balance,"，直到1952年才正式被采用，作為科學前綴，意思是“萬億分之一”。

另外，femto- 表示“毫微微,塵”，atto- 表示“微微微,渺”

英文詞源：word-forming element used in making names for very small unites of measure, 1915 (formally adopted c.1952 as a scientific prefix meaning "one trillionth"), from Spanish pico "a little over, a small balance," literally "sharp point, beak," of Celtic origin (compare Gaulish beccus "beak").

同綴詞：

1.picohenry [pic- 前綴表示微微,萬億分之一,沙 + henry 電感單位亨利]
n.微微亨

2.picofarad [pic- 前綴表示微微,萬億分之一,沙 + farad n. 法拉（電容單位）]
n.微微法

3.picosecond [[pic- 前綴表示微微,萬億分之一,沙 + second 秒]
n.微微秒

4.picoprogram [[pic- 前綴表示微微,萬億分之一,沙 + program 程序]
n. 微微程序