Kilo

How to spell kilo

4 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce kilo

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does kilo mean?

1. nounA unit of mass equal to one thousand grams; a kilogram.
2. nounThe code word for the letter K in the international radio phonetic alphabet.

Kilo in a sentence

• The recipe calls for half a kilo of plain flour.

• The pilot spelled the call sign using kilo for the letter K.

• His suitcase was one kilo over the airline limit.

• In the phonetic alphabet, kilo follows Juliet and precedes Lima.

Where does kilo come from?

Language of origin: Greek

Kilo is a shortened form of words like kilogram and kilometre, and it traces back to the Greek khilioi, which simply meant 'thousand'. In the 1790s the architects of the French metric system borrowed this Greek element to coin 'kilogramme', a unit equal to a thousand grams, and the same prefix was attached to other base units to mean multiplication by a thousand. English adopted the metric vocabulary through French during the nineteenth century, and over time speakers clipped the long compound down to the brisk single word 'kilo'. The single 'l' is worth fixing in memory: although the word feels like it should be padded out, the Greek root and the metric prefix both carry just one l, so doubling it is the common slip. It is now an everyday word for a kilogram of weight, especially when buying food or weighing luggage.

How the word is built

• kilo- (from Greek khilioi: thousand) used as a standalone noun