macro

[mak-roh] /ˈmæk roʊ/

adjective

very large in scale, scope, or capability.

of or pertaining to macroeconomics.

noun, plural macros.

anything very large in scale, scope, or capability.

Photography. a macro lens.

Also called macroinstruction. Computers. an instruction that represents a sequence of instructions in abbreviated form.

macroeconomics.

Origin

independent use of macro-, taken as an adjective, or by shortening of words with macro- as initial element

macro-

a combining form meaning “large,” “long,” “great,” “excessive,” used in the formation of compound words, contrasting with micro-: macrocosm; macrofossil; macrograph; macroscopic.

Also, especially before a vowel, macr-.

Origin

< Greek makro-, combining form of makrós long; cognate with Latin macer lean; see meager

Can be confused

macro-, micro-.

Examples from the web for macro

If your digital camera includes what's known as macro mode, you might be able to get better shots at close range.
macro econ modelers have attempted many times to do it and have failed miserably.
They think that the world is a solid place with macro occurrences, whereas some of us support the notion of energies.
So creative compared to the usual macro insect images.
We challenged our readers to give us their best macro photos and vote on which ones they liked best.
The macro replicates the micro, as it is made out of the micro substances.
Many point-and-shoots have a macro setting, usually denoted by a flower.
But in sum, the models are only as good as the theory behind them, and the macro theories differ dramatically.
At the macro scale, education initiatives need to build slowly and pace themselves for the long-haul.
There are micro and macro meanings to this development, and none of them are good.

British Dictionary definitions for macro

macro

/ˈmækrəʊ/

noun (pl) macros

a macro lens

Also macro instruction. a single computer instruction that initiates a set of instructions to perform a specific task

macro-

combining form

large, long, or great in size or duration: macroscopic

(in pathology) indicating abnormal enlargement or overdevelopment: macrocyte Compare micro- (sense 5)

producing larger than life images: macrophotography

Word Origin

from Greek makros large; compare Latin macermeagre

Word Origin and History for macro

1959 in computing sense, shortened from macro-instruction.

macro-

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").

macro in Medicine

macro- or macr-
pref.

Large: macronucleus.
Long: macrobiotic.
Inclusive: macroamylase.

macro in Science

macro-
A prefix meaning "large," as in macromolecule, a large molecule.

macro in Technology

1. Assembly language for VAX/VMS.
2. PL/I-like language with extensions for string processing. "MACRO: A Programming Language", S.R. Greenwood, SIGPLAN Notices 14(9):80-91 (Sep 1979).
[Jargon File]

A name (possibly followed by a formal argument list) that is equated to a text or symbolic expression to which it is to be expanded (possibly with the substitution of actual arguments) by a macro expander.
The term "macro" originated in early assemblers, which encouraged the use of macros as a structuring and information-hiding device. During the early 1970s, macro assemblers became ubiquitous, and sometimes quite as powerful and expensive as HLLs, only to fall from favour as improving compiler technology marginalised assembly language programming (see languages of choice). Nowadays the term is most often used in connection with the C preprocessor, Lisp, or one of several special-purpose languages built around a macro-expansion facility (such as TeX or Unix's troff suite).
Indeed, the meaning has drifted enough that the collective "macros" is now sometimes used for code in any special-purpose application control language (whether or not the language is actually translated by text expansion), and for macro-like entities such as the "keyboard macros" supported in some text editors (and PC TSRs or Macintosh INIT/CDEV keyboard enhancers).
(1994-12-06)

Related Abbreviations for macro

macro

macroinstruction