noun · 5 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot
Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.
Sound
Pronunciation
Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.
Received-Pronunciation:/ˈliːtə/
UK:Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
General-American:/ˈli.tɚ/
[ˈli.ɾɚ]Canada, US, flapping
homophone: leader
homophone: lieder
Scotland:/ˈlitəɾ/
1
noun
Meaning 1
The metric unit of fluid measure, equal to one cubic decimetre. Symbol: L, l, or l.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
You should be able to fill four cups with one litre of water.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
2
noun
Meaning 2
A measure of volume equivalent to a litre.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: informal
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
3
noun
Meaning 3
Lithraea caustica, a Chilean tree or bush.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
4
noun
Meaning 4
Alternative form of litter.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: alt-of, alternative, obsolete
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
5
noun
Meaning 5
a metric unit of capacity, formerly defined as the volume of one kilogram of pure water under standard conditions; now equal to 1,000 cubic centimeters (or approximately 1.75 pints)
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
From French litre, from Medieval Latin litra, from Ancient Greek λίτρα (lítra, “a Sicilian coin, a measure of weight”). Related to Latin lībra. Doublet of arratel, libbra, Libra, libra, lira, litra, livre, and rottol.
Borrowed from Spanish litre.
Across languages
Translations
93 source translations are retained for this English entry.
Albanian:
litër
— unit of fluid measure
Arabic:
لِتْر
(litr)
— unit of fluid measure
Arabic:
لتر
(letr)
— unit of fluid measure
Arabic:
اطرو
(eṭṛō)
— unit of fluid measure
Armenian:
լիտր
(litr)
— unit of fluid measure
Asturian:
llitru
— unit of fluid measure
Azerbaijani:
litr
— unit of fluid measure
Belarusian:
літр
(litr)
— unit of fluid measure
Bengali:
লিটার
(liṭar)
— unit of fluid measure
Breton:
litr
— unit of fluid measure
Bulgarian:
ли́тър
(lítǎr)
— unit of fluid measure
Burmese:
လီတာ
(lita)
— unit of fluid measure
Catalan:
litre
— unit of fluid measure
Chinese Cantonese:
升
(sing1)
— unit of fluid measure
Chinese Cantonese:
公升
— unit of fluid measure
Chinese:
гуншын
(gunšɨn)
— unit of fluid measure
Chinese Mandarin:
升
(shēng)
— unit of fluid measure
Chinese Mandarin:
公升
(gōngshēng)
— unit of fluid measure
Czech:
litr
— unit of fluid measure
Danish:
liter
— unit of fluid measure
Central Dusun:
liter
— unit of fluid measure
Dutch:
liter
— unit of fluid measure
Esperanto:
litro
— unit of fluid measure
Estonian:
liiter
— unit of fluid measure
Faroese:
litur
— unit of fluid measure
Faroese:
litri
— unit of fluid measure
Finnish:
litra
— unit of fluid measure
French:
litre
— unit of fluid measure
Galician:
litro
— unit of fluid measure
Georgian:
ლიტრი
(liṭri)
— unit of fluid measure
German:
Liter
— unit of fluid measure
Greek:
λίτρο
(lítro)
— unit of fluid measure
Hebrew:
לִיטר
(líter)
— unit of fluid measure
Hindi:
लीटर
(līṭar)
— unit of fluid measure
Hungarian:
liter
— unit of fluid measure
Icelandic:
lítri
— unit of fluid measure
Ido:
litro
— unit of fluid measure
Indonesian:
liter
— unit of fluid measure
Irish:
lítear
— unit of fluid measure
Italian:
litro
— unit of fluid measure
Japanese:
リットル
(rittoru)
— unit of fluid measure
Jarai:
lit
— unit of fluid measure
Kazakh:
литр
(litr)
— unit of fluid measure
Khmer:
លីត្រ
(liit)
— unit of fluid measure
Korean:
리터
(riteo)
— unit of fluid measure
Central Kurdish:
لتر
(ltir)
— unit of fluid measure
Kyrgyz:
литр
(litr)
— unit of fluid measure
Lao:
ລິດ
(lit)
— unit of fluid measure
Latvian:
litrs
— unit of fluid measure
Lingala:
litele
— unit of fluid measure
Lithuanian:
litras
— unit of fluid measure
Macedonian:
литар
(litar)
— unit of fluid measure
Malay:
liter
— unit of fluid measure
Māori:
rita
— unit of fluid measure
Mongolian:
литр
(litr)
— unit of fluid measure
Norwegian Bokmål:
liter
— unit of fluid measure
Norwegian Nynorsk:
liter
— unit of fluid measure
Persian:
لیتر
(litr)
— unit of fluid measure
Polish:
litr
— unit of fluid measure
Portuguese:
litro
— unit of fluid measure
Romanian:
litru
— unit of fluid measure
Russian:
литр
(litr)
— unit of fluid measure
Scottish Gaelic:
liotair
— unit of fluid measure
Serbo-Croatian:
ли̏тра
— unit of fluid measure
Serbo-Croatian:
ли̏тар
— unit of fluid measure
Serbo-Croatian:
lȉtra
— unit of fluid measure
Serbo-Croatian:
lȉtar
— unit of fluid measure
Sicilian:
litru
— unit of fluid measure
Sinhalese:
ලීටර්
(līṭar)
— unit of fluid measure
Slovak:
liter
— unit of fluid measure
Slovene:
liter
— unit of fluid measure
Spanish:
litro
— unit of fluid measure
Swahili:
lita
— unit of fluid measure
Swedish:
liter
— unit of fluid measure
Tagalog:
litro
— unit of fluid measure
Tajik:
литр
(litr)
— unit of fluid measure
Tamil:
லிட்டர்
(liṭṭar)
— unit of fluid measure
Tatar:
liter
— unit of fluid measure
Telugu:
లీటరు
(līṭaru)
— unit of fluid measure
Thai:
ลิตร
(lít)
— unit of fluid measure
Tibetan:
ཤིང་ཚེ
— unit of fluid measure
Tibetan:
གཞལ་ཚད་ཞིག
(gzhal tshad zhig)
— unit of fluid measure
