ETYM French litre, Greek litra a silver coin.
(Alternate spelling: litre)
Metric unit of volume (symbol l), equal since 1964 to one cubic decimeter (61.025 cu in, 1.057 liquid qt, or 0.91 dry qt). It was formerly defined as the volume occupied by one kilogram of pure water at 4şC at standard pressure, but this is slightly larger than one cubic decimeter.
A metric unit of capacity equal to the volume of 1 kilogram of pure water at 4 degrees centigrade and 760 mm of mercury (or approximately 1.76 pints); SYN. litre, l, cubic decimeter, cubic decimetre.