ミリ

みり
noun, prefix
millimeter; milli- (prefix)
quantity
1. millimeter; mm
A unit of length equal to one-thousandth of a meter. Short for ミリメートル and overwhelmingly the everyday spoken form.
I cut my hair by three millimeters.
(あつ)()ミリほどです。
It's about five millimeters thick.
2. milli- (metric prefix); a thousandth
The metric prefix meaning one-thousandth, attached to other units such as grams, liters, or seconds.
I was prescribed 500 milligrams of the medicine.
The response time is a few milliseconds.
I bought a 500-milliliter plastic bottle.

Borrowed via French/Dutch 'milli'. In Japanese, ミリ alone almost always means millimeter (sense 1) — for other units, the full compound is used: ミリグラム (mg), ミリリットル (mL), ミリ(びょう) (ms).

Common collocations

  • (すう)ミリ: several millimeters
  • (なん)ミリ: how many millimeters?
  • ミリ単位(たんい): down to the millimeter
  • ミリメートル: full form, millimeter
  • ミリグラム: milligram
  • ミリリットル: milliliter

Similar words

  • センチ: centimeter — the next unit up; common everyday length
  • マイクロ: micro- (one-millionth)