kilogram

Definitions

kilo- (thousand) + gram (a unit of weight) = a thousand grams. Here gram is NOT 'letter': the Greeks also used gramma for a small written-down standard weight, and that sense flowed through French gramme into the metric system.

Why It Means This

Kilogram quietly hides a second life of the root gram. While telegram and diagram use gram as 'written thing,' the gram of weight comes from gramma used as a small standard measure — literally a 'recorded' unit. Same Greek word, two destinations: language and mass.

Common Collocations

• 1.per kilogram每公斤
• 2.one kilogram一公斤
• 3.kilograms of……公斤的

Example Sentences

• 1.

  The package weighs just over one kilogram.

• 2.

  Apples are sold by the kilogram at this market.

• 3.

  She lost three kilograms after a month of training.