liter

American  

[lee-ter] / ˈli tər /

especially British, litre

noun

• liters
  plural

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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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• liters
  plural

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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

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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

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Explanation

A liter is a liquid unit of measurement. Drinking a liter of water everyday is good for you, though drinking a liter of diet soda probably isn't. A liter is a metric unit that measures volume. You can also spell the word litre, which is actually the most common spelling outside of the United States. Liters most often measure liquids — a large bottle of Coke or Pepsi, for example, typically comes in a two liter size. The French word litre comes from the obsolete litron, which once measured amounts of grain, with its Greek root litra, or "pound."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

liter liters

For molecules with absorption strengths similar to efficient porphyrinoid pigments, the required concentration would be roughly 10 grams per liter.

From Science Daily ● Sep. 13, 2026

Specifically, that 2001 testing showed the carcinogenic solvent and dry-cleaning chemical perchloroethylene, or PCE, in the soil at levels as high as 6,658 micrograms per liter, said Alysa Pakkidis, information officer for the agency.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 11, 2026

But the fuel blockade is hurting business, strangled by power cuts of up to 30 hours at a time, and fuel prices of up to $8 a liter.

From Barron's ● Jul. 3, 2026

TotalEnergies charges 1.99 euro a liter for gasoline.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 8, 2026

Then more and more of us acted like crazy fools and we throwed away hevey cotes and things to make our lodes a littel liter.

From "Across Five Aprils" by Irene Hunt

Last year, nonalcoholic beer accounted for nearly 8% of reported beer volume, with more than half a million liters served.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 3, 2026

In other words, Canadian whiskies in containers larger than 4 liters won’t get banned from the American market.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 9, 2026

Each ship requires about 200 million liters of water, which is then discharged into the sea.

From Barron's ● Sep. 7, 2026

The most cited recommendations for water come from the National Academy of Medicine, which calls for a total daily fluid intake of 3.7 liters for men and 2.7 liters for women.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 27, 2026

The Hab's internal volume is about 120,000 liters.

From "The Martian" by Andy Weir

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