kilo

[kee-loh, kil-oh] /ˈki loʊ, ˈkɪl oʊ/
noun, plural kilos.
1.
kilogram.
2.
kilometer.
3.
(a word used in communications to represent the letter K.)
Origin
1865-70; shortened form

kilo-

1.
a Greek combining form meaning “thousand,” introduced from French in the nomenclature of the metric system (kiloliter); on this model, used in the formation of compound words in other scientific measurements (kilowatt).
Origin
< French, representing Greek chī́lioi a thousand
Examples from the web for kilo
  • Turning biological wastes, dry, or otherwise does not produce a large amount of energy per kilo.
  • Beef production also requires thousands of litres of water per kilo.
  • He looked around the marketplace and found about a kilo of it for sale.
  • Their ration cards permitted them only one kilo of sugar and half a liter of cooking oil a month.
  • And safely packed: two kilos inside each seventeen-kilo radiation-proof container.
  • At one point he told us that the price of his drawings had soared so high that a kilo of caviar worked out to be cheaper.
  • She caused sensations by wearing a party dress or by gaining a kilo of weight.
  • Less than a kilo of fishmeal is needed to produce a kilo of salmon.
British Dictionary definitions for kilo

kilo1

/ˈkiːləʊ/
noun (pl) kilos
1.
short for kilogram, kilometre

kilo2

/ˈkiːləʊ/
noun
1.
(communications) a code word for the letter k

kilo-

prefix
1.
denoting 10³ (1000): kilometre, k
2.
(in computer technology) denoting 210 (1024): kilobyte: in computer usage, kilo- is restricted to sizes of storage (e.g. kilobit) when it means 1024; in other computer contexts it retains its usual meaning of 1000
Word Origin
from French, from Greek khilioi thousand
Word Origin and History for kilo
n.

1870, shortening of kilogram. Slang shortening key (in drug trafficking) is attested from 1968.

kilo-

word-forming element meaning "one thousand," introduced in French 1795, when the metric system was officially adopted there, from Greek khilioi "thousand," of unknown origin.

kilo in Medicine

kilo- pref.
One thousand (103): kilogram.

kilo in Science
kilo-  

  1. A prefix that means:

  2. One thousand, as in kilowatt, one thousand watts.

  3. 210 (that is, 1,024), which is the power of 2 closest to 1,000, as in kilobyte.


Related Abbreviations for kilo

kilo

kilogram