liter

American  

[lee-ter] / ˈli tər /

especially British, litre

noun

1. a unit of capacity redefined in 1964 by a reduction of 28 parts in a million to be exactly equal to one cubic decimeter. It is equivalent to 1.0567 U.S. liquid quarts and is equal to the volume of one kilogram of distilled water at 4°C. l

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liter British  

/ ˈliːtə /

noun

1. the US spelling of litre

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liter Scientific  

/ lē′tər /

1. The basic unit of liquid volume or capacity in the metric system, equal to 1.06 quart or 2.12 pints.

2. See Table at measurement

3. The basic unit of dry volume or capacity in the metric system, equal to 0.90 quart or 1.82 pint.

4. See Table at measurement

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Etymology

Origin of liter

1800–10; < French litre, back formation from litron an old measure of capacity, derivative (with -on noun suffix) of Medieval Latin litra < Greek lítra pound

Compare meaning

How does liter compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:

• gallon vs. liter
• liter vs. milliliter
• pint vs. liter

Example Sentences

There are about 7,500 liters of helium-3 in a kilogram, according to reporting from the Washington Post.

From MarketWatch

In February, Fortescue started running two battery-electric locomotives from Caterpillar’s Progress Rail on its railroad, which it said will reduce its diesel use by roughly 1 million liters annually.

From The Wall Street Journal

The Mexican government this week lowered taxes on gasoline after renewing an agreement with retailers to keep the price of regular gasoline under 24 pesos a liter, which is equivalent to about $5.10 a gallon.

From The Wall Street Journal

It notes some 2.7 billion liters of diesel are consumed in the country each month.

From The Wall Street Journal

If diesel reaches one euro per liter, his fleet's five trawlers will remain in port because it will no longer be profitable to send them out.

From Barron's