Extremely tiny units of measurement equal to one millionth of a meter; used to measure very small things like bacteria or dust particles.
From Greek 'mikros' (small) combined with the metric prefix system. The term became standardized in the 19th century as microscopy and chemistry demanded precise measurements of objects invisible to the naked eye.
A human hair is about 70 microns wide, but COVID particles are only about 0.1 microns—so the virus can sneak through masks unless they're tightly woven. Understanding microns literally became a matter of life and death during the pandemic.
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