- a combining form meaning “large,” “long,” “great,” “excessive,” used in the formation of compound words, contrasting with micro-: macrocosm; macrofossil; macrograph; macroscopic.
combining form
- large, long, or great in size or durationmacroscopic
- (in pathology) indicating abnormal enlargement or overdevelopmentmacrocyte Compare micro- (def. 5)
- producing larger than life imagesmacrophotography
word-forming element meaning “long, abnormally large, on a large scale,” taken into English via Middle French and Medieval Latin from Greek makros “long, large,” from PIE root *mak- “long, thin” (cf. Latin macer “lean, thin;” Old Norse magr, Old English mæger “lean, thin;” Greek mekos “length”). pref.
- Large:macronucleus.
- Long:macrobiotic.
- Inclusive:macroamylase.
- A prefix meaning large, as in macromolecule, a large molecule.