kilo-

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kilo-

/ˌkɪl.ə-/ Australia, Canada, US
/ˌkəl.ə-/ New Zealand

Where it comes from

Borrowed from French kilo-, irregularly derived from Ancient Greek χίλιοι (khílioi, “one thousand”). The etymologically "correct" form would be chili- or chilo-, resulting in forms such as chiliasme (“chiliasm”) or chilopode (“centipede”); but the French, when creating the prefix, had to avoid a possible (standard) pronunciation of chi as /ʃi/, too close to the vulgar verb chier (“to shit”).

prefix

morpheme In the International System of Units and other metric systems of units, multiplying the unit to which it is attached by a thousand (1000).
Similar: chilia- · Opposite: milli-
morpheme, proscribed Synonym of kibi- (“multiplying the unit to which it is attached by 2¹⁰ = 1024”).
Similar: mul:Ki-, mul:ki-, kibi-

Translations

Every language

prefix prefix

Español	kilo-, quilo-, kili-
한국어	킬로- killo-
日本語	キロ- kiro-
中文	千- qiān-
हिन्दी	सहस्र- sahasra-
Português	quilo-, kilo-
Français	kilo-
Deutsch	kilo-
Italiano	chilo-, kilo-
Ελληνικά	χιλιό- chilió-, χιλιο- chilio-
Română	kilo-
Русский	кило- kilo-
Tiếng Việt	ki-lô

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Cite this

MLA

"kilo-." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/kilo-. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

kilo-. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/kilo-

Chicago

"kilo-." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/kilo-.

BibTeX

@misc{kilo_2026,
  title = {kilo-},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/kilo-},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}