Millisievert

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A unit of measure representing one-thousandth of a sievert, used to quantify the biological effect of ionizing radiation on human tissue
2. A metric unit for radiation dose equal to 0.001 sieverts, indicating the level of radiation exposure and its potential impact on living organisms
3. A radiation dose measurement expressed as one one-thousandth of a sievert, employed to assess the biological risk posed by absorbed ionizing radiation

Etymology: The millisievert is a plain construction: the prefix "milli-", from Latin "mille" meaning "thousand", attached to "sievert". The prefix has the sense of one-thousandth, so a millisievert is a thousandth of a sievert, the unit that measures the biological effect of ionizing radiation on human tissue. The sievert itself is named after Rolf Maximilian Sievert, the Swedish medical physicist known for his work on radiation dosimetry and protection. The unit was adopted within the International System of Units, where the prefixes such as "milli-" are applied to any named SI unit in the same regular way. The millisievert is therefore best understood as a scaled-down version of the sievert, used when doses are small, such as those from routine medical imaging or background radiation.

Synonyms: mSv, radiation dose unit