Nanoprobe

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A tiny instrument inserted into cells or tissue to measure or manipulate structures at a microscopic scale
2. An extremely small probe designed to examine or act upon individual cells and minute biological structures
3. A minute sensing device, often on the scale of a micrometre or less, used to investigate or alter microscopic material

Etymology: "Nanoprobe" is a compound of two parts: "nano-", a prefix meaning one-billionth, and "probe," an instrument sent in to examine something. The prefix traces back to the Ancient Greek "nânos," meaning "dwarf," which passed into Latin as "nānus" and eventually reached English as the combining form "nano-." Its use for a billionth of a unit came much later, in the scientific vocabulary of the metric system, which is why the prefix now sounds so technical even though its ancestor simply described a small person. The second part, "probe," has a more physical history. It comes from Latin "proba," meaning a test or trial, and it originally referred to something used to test or search, such as a surgeon's instrument for exploring a wound. Attaching it to "nano-" produces a literal sense of a tool small enough to examine things at the molecular scale, a meaning that fits the word's use for tiny measuring devices.

Synonyms: nanosensor, nanodevice