Decaliters

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. Units of volume measurement in the metric system, each equal to ten liters or approximately 2.64 gallons
2. Metric volume units equivalent to ten liters, commonly used for measuring liquids in larger quantities
3. Measures of liquid or dry volume in the metric system, with each unit containing exactly ten liters

Etymology: The metric system was devised in revolutionary France to base measurement on powers of ten. Its unit of volume, the liter, took its name from the Greek "litra," an old unit of weight, which came from the Latin "libra," the Roman pound. The liter was defined as the volume of a cube of water one decimeter on each side, linking a measure of capacity to a measure of mass. Larger metric units were made by attaching prefixes to the base unit. "Deca-" comes from the Greek "deka," meaning ten, the same root found in "decagon" and "decade." A decaliter is therefore ten liters, and the prefix works like its counterparts, "hecto-" for a hundred and "kilo-" for a thousand. Ten liters is roughly 2.6 US gallons.

Synonyms: decalitres