Etymology From macro-, from French, from Latin, ulimately from Ancient Greek μακρός (makrós, “long”).
1
Very large in scale or scope.
Crumb's sexual fixation on gigantic women's legs became a major feature of his most celebrated images. Despite the common themes among macrophiles, Ed Lundt believes that no two macro fantasies are quite alike […]1999, Katharine Gates, Deviant Desires: Incredibly Strange Sex, page 115:
But simply turning off iCloud backups was an incomplete solution. The macro problem, I wrote in my column last year, is that people have sacrificed ownership and control of their data.2022 November 2, Brian X. Chen, “Personal Tech Has Changed. So Must Our Coverage of It.”, in The New York Times, →ISSN, archived from the original on 12 Jan 2023:
While there are many aspects to this way of living, the actual “diet” focuses on whole foods, consumed in traditional methods. A typical macro bowl includes grains, beans, steamed veggies, sea vegetables, and fermented foods.2015, Elizabeth Stein, Eating Purely:
macro
noun
Etymology From macro-, from French, from Latin, ulimately from Ancient Greek μακρός (makrós, “long”).
On Monday, chipmaker Nvidia (NVDA) cut its sales outlook for the fourth quarter, citing “deteriorating macroeconomic conditions, particularly in China.” Last week, Intel’s (INTC) CEO also noted that “trade and macro concerns, especially in China, have intensified.”2019 January 28, Seth Fiegerman, “Apple earnings: How low can iPhone sales go?”, in CNN Business, archived from the original on 31 May 2019:
Abbreviation, Clipping, Colloquial, In plural Clipping of macronutrient.
Don't be afraid to include some “unhealthy” foods in your diet. The overarching rule about foods is if it fits your macros (IIFYM), then you can eat it. That means you can eat chocolate, ice cream, and many other indulgences […]2018, Spencer Langley, Flex Life: How to Transform Your Body Forever, Flex Life Inc., →ISBN, page 81:
Most macros are made by camera manufacturers to fit their cameras1980, Popular Science, volume 217, number 6, page 94:
The lens was a macro, capable of everything from an “infinity shot” to a close-up in which a single fingerprint filled the entire frame.2008, Richard Satterlie, Agnes Hahn:
After i got ressirected^([sic]) the stat loss hit me hard, i macroed for a few days, sparred with some friends, and my skills were soon back up.1998 July 20, d cundiff, “GMs....”, in alt.games.ultima-online (Usenet), archived from the original on 05 Dec 2025:
Do this poison thing gradually increasing potency until you hit about 78 then macro on a ghost to GM1999 March 16, Andrew Blackwell, “Help : Healing”, in rec.games.computer.ultima.online (Usenet), archived from the original on 05 Dec 2025:
1 more example
Ok, i have to admit i macroed for 3 lvls to get my magic defence sorted :(2000 December 2, Rich, “dag-nabit makes yet another confession”, in microsoft.public.games.zone.asherons_call (Usenet), archived from the original on 05 Dec 2025:
He said he macroed anatomy from 0 to about 80 and his healing went from the 52 he started with to 58.2.1999 March 16, Andrew Blackwell, “Help : Healing”, in rec.games.computer.ultima.online (Usenet), archived from the original on 05 Dec 2025:
For that matter, you can do something by killing the character being macroed. :) It IS Darktide after all.2001 January 15, Peter Duniho, “Some really lame things go on in this game”, in microsoft.public.games.zone.asherons_call (Usenet), archived from the original on 05 Dec 2025:
1 more example
Same here, macroed my really gimp CH, none of the others.2003 December 9, Graeme Faelban, “How I cast spells with my cleric”, in alt.games.everquest (Usenet), archived from the original on 05 Dec 2025:
Etymology Clipping of macroinstruction. First attested in 1959.
1
Computing, Engineering, Mathematics, Natural sciences, Physical sciences, Programming, SciencesOften A comparatively human-friendly abbreviation of complex input to a computer program.
The preprocessor expands any embedded macros into source code before it is compiled.
There's also a spam filter in the code now, so if someone attempts to flood people's screens with macros or a bot, everything after the first few lines is thrown away.1998, Dr. Cat, “Furry web site plug”, in alt.fan.furry (Usenet):
3 more examples
A recurring theme in this book is to record an Excel macro and then show how to adapt the recorded code.2004, Paul Kimmel, Excel 2003 VBA Programmer's Reference, John Wiley & Sons, →ISBN, page 2:
Languages belonging to the Lisp family make use of macros to provide support for compile-time metaprogramming.2010, Debasish Ghosh, DSLs in Action, Simon and Schuster, →ISBN:
This should make intuitive sense because the purpose of the macro system is to transform code from one valid form to a final form, such as inserting logic automatically that would otherwise have been written explicitly.2021, Dean Wampler, chapter 24, in Programming Scala, 3rd edition, O'Reilly, →ISBN: