Editing Kilo- (section)

{{Short description|Decimal unit prefix in the metric system}}
{{Other uses|Kilo (disambiguation){{!}}Kilo}}
{{Wiktionary|kilo-}}

'''Kilo''' is a [[decimal prefix|decimal]] [[metric prefix|unit prefix]] in the [[metric system]] denoting multiplication by one [[thousand]] (10<sup>3</sup>). It is used in the [[International System of Units]], where it has the symbol '''k''', in [[Letter case|lowercase]].

The prefix ''kilo'' is derived from the [[Greek language|Greek]] word {{lang|el|χίλιοι}} ({{lang|el-Latn|chilioi}}), meaning "thousand". 

In 19th century English it was sometimes spelled chilio, in line with a [[Linguistic purism|puristic]] opinion by [[Thomas Young (scientist)|Thomas Young]].<ref name="Brewster_1832">{{cite book |title=The Edinburgh Encyclopaedia |first=David |last=Brewster |volume=12 |edition=1st American |date=1832 |publisher=Joseph and Edward Parker<!-- |printer=William Brows --> |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=17RGAQAAIAAJ&pg=PA572 |access-date=2015-10-09}}</ref><ref name="Dingler_1823">{{cite book |title=Polytechnisches Journal |first=Johann Gottfried |last=Dingler |volume=11 |date=1823 |publisher=J.W. Gotta'schen Buchhandlung |language=de |location=Stuttgart, Germany |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wF3zAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA500 |access-date=2015-10-09}}</ref> As an opponent of suggestions to introduce the metric system in Britain, he qualified the nomenclature adopted in France as barbarous.