Chinese word

厘米

Pronunciation

Pinyinlí mǐ

Meaning

  • nouncentimeter

Example

这把尺子长30厘米zhè bǎ chǐ zi cháng 30 lí mǐ

This ruler is 30 centimeters long.

Illustration for 厘米 (centimeter)

More examples

这棵树大约有两百多厘米高。zhè kē shù dà yuē yǒu liáng bǎi duō lí mǐ gāo

This tree is a little over 200 centimeters tall.

Core concept

A fine ruler-scale length that divides the meter into one hundred equal parts.

Common phrases

  • 几厘米jǐ lí mǐ

    how many centimeters

  • 厘米高lí mǐ gāo

    centimeters tall

Similar words

米mǐ: The basic metric length unit, equal to one hundred centimeters.
公里gōng lǐ: A metric length unit equal to one thousand meters.
毫米háo mǐ: A metric length unit equal to one tenth of a centimeter.
公分gōng fēn: The Taiwanese term for a centimeter.

Definition in Chinese

公制长度单位，表示米的百分之一，即1厘米＝0.01米，也常写作10毫米。gōng zhì cháng dù dān wèi biǎo shì mǐ de bǎi fēn zhī yī jí 1 lí mǐ 0.01 mǐ yě cháng xiě zuò 10 háo mǐ

Word origin

厘米 (límǐ, "centimeter") uses 厘 (lí, "a small unit") with 米 (mǐ, "meter"), linking the idea of a small unit to the metric base unit.

Usage tips

  • In spoken measurements, the number comes before the unit, and the unit has no plural ending, which makes Chinese measurements more compact than English ones.

Word lists with this word