Word.ws English Dictionary

liter

Syllables: li·terUK/ˈliː.tə//ˈli.tɚ/

liter is the alternative form of litre.

liter is the alternative form of litter.

Meaning of litre

Noun (1)

litre (plural litres)

  1. The metric unit of fluid measure, equal to one cubic decimetre. Symbol: L, l, or ℓ.
    • Holonyms: kilolitre < megalitre < gigalitre
  2. (informal) A measure of volume equivalent to a litre.

Noun (2)

litre (plural litres)

  1. Lithraea caustica, a Chilean tree or bush.

Meaning of litter

Noun

litter (countable and uncountable, plural litters)

  1. (uncountable) Straw, grass, and similar loose material used as bedding for people or animals.
    • Quen he had made me hale and ferea. 1325, Cursor Mundi (Vespasian MS), lines 13817–8
    1. (countable, obsolete) A bed, especially a pile of straw (sometimes also with blankets) used as a bed.
      • Near-synonyms: pallet, straw bed, hay bed (all broadly synonymous)
    2. (uncountable) Animal bedding together with its dung.
      • Silkworms... must be well cleansed from the litter.1835, Andrew Ure, The Philosophy of Manufactures, page 232
  2. (countable) A mobile bed or couch transported upon or suspended from poles placed over human shoulders or animal backs.
    • ... In a lytter made tho full royall...1410s, John Lydgate, Troy Book, Canto II
    1. (countable) Synonym of stretcher, such a vehicle used for transporting the sick and injured, inclusive of designs carried in the hand.
      • He ordeyned lyttyers for the wounded knyghtes.c. 1480, Thomas Malory, chapter XIX, in Morte d'Arthur
    2. (broadly, countable) Any of the other similar conveyances, such as sedan chairs, hammock litters, and the like.
      • When they went out, they sat in litters, which were curtained.1922, Maneckji Nusservanji Dhalla, Zoroastrian Civilization, page 219

See all 20 meanings of litter

Forms of liter

pluralliters
alternative formlit.

Origin of liter

From the Old French litron. A hoax etymology of the fictional Claude Émile Jean-Baptiste Litre has been reproduced as legitimate.

Words formed from liter

Words that rhyme with liter

7 more rhymesFewer rhymes

Questions about liter

What is liter the alternative form of?
Liter is the alternative form of litre.
How do you pronounce liter?
Liter is pronounced /ˈliː.tə/ (UK).

Words near liter in the dictionary

  1. lited
  2. litel
  3. litell
  4. liteness
  5. Liteni
  6. liter
  7. literacide
  8. literacies
  9. literacy
  10. literae humaniores
  11. literage

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: liter (page history and authors); litre (page history and authors); litter (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vininn126-liter.wav.

Cite this entry: “liter.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/liter. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.