microcentury

Etymology

From micro- (“1 millionth”) + century (“100 years”).

Why this word is great

MICROCENTURY — [Noun] A unit of time equal to one millionth of a century or approximately 52 minutes and 35.8 seconds, often used humorously. From micro- ("one millionth") + century ("100 years"). Unlike an "hour" (a neutral, workaday measure) or a "millennium" (a grand historical sweep), the microcentury is a wink at the absurdity of quantifying existence—a cosmic joke disguised as precision. It is the duration of a faculty meeting that feels eternal, the lifespan of a perfectly ripe peach left unattended on a counter, or the time it takes for optimism to curdle into regret during a tedious meeting. A century is a monument; a microcentury is its shadow at noon.

noun

  1. A unit of time equal to one millionth of a century or approximately one hour (52 minutes and 35.8 seconds).“After fifty minutes (one microcentury as von Neumann used to say) everybody's attention will turn elsewhere even if we are trying to prove the Riemann hypothesis.”