Pico

Pico is a term with multiple meanings across science, technology, and geography. It can refer to a metric prefix, a family of hardware boards from the Raspberry Pi Foundation, and an island in the Azores, among other uses.

As a SI prefix, pico- denotes one trillionth, or 10^-12, and uses the symbol p. It is used in measurements across physics, chemistry, and electronics.

In computing, the Raspberry Pi Pico is a low-cost microcontroller board introduced in 2021 by the Raspberry Pi Foundation. It is powered by the RP2040 microcontroller, a dual-core ARM Cortex-M0+ processor, and includes programmable I/O (PIO), USB connectivity, and multiple GPIO pins for general purpose use. The Pico W variant adds 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi wireless connectivity.

In geography, Pico Island (Ilha do Pico) is part of the Azores archipelago in Portugal. It lies in the central group of islands and is known for Mount Pico, the highest peak in Portugal, rising to about 2,351 meters. The island is volcanic in origin and is renowned for its lava-derived landscapes and local wine production.

A common thread is that Pico denotes “peak” or related concepts in Romance languages, a connection reflected in both place names and technical terminology. The term also appears in other contexts, reflecting its simple, compact form and broad cultural reach.