millimeter
MIL-uh-mee-ter/ˈmɪləˌmitɚ/UKMIL-i-mee-tuh/ˈmɪlɪˌmiːtə/
Pluralmillimeters
UK spellingmillimetre
- 1A unit of length in the SI and MKS systems, equal to one thousandth of a meter and written with the symbol mm.
The mechanic adjusted the gap by half a millimeter until the door closed smoothly.
Forecasters expect up to 20 millimeters of rain overnight.
Note
English borrowed the word from French millimètre, though it reads as if built at home from milli-, "thousandth," and meter. The symbol mm stays lowercase in both letters, because a capital M is the symbol for mega-, so Mm would name the megameter, a vastly larger unit. In casual speech the word is sometimes clipped to mil or mill.
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Origin
Borrowed from French millimètre, and read in English as if formed from milli- + meter.