The following are the prefixes associated with, and the abbreviations for the different powers of ten.
Multiple Prefix Abbreviation
1018 exa E
1015 peta P
1012 tera T
109 giga G
106 mega M
103 kilo k
102 hecto h
101 deka da
10-1 deci d
10-2 centi c
10-3 milli m
10-6 micro μ
10-9 nano n
10-12 pico p
10-15 femto f
10-18 atto a
So, something that is 1/100th of a meter is called a centimeter, and abreviated cm. Nifty, huh?