What does hectolitre mean?
A hectolitre is a metric unit of volume equal to 100 litres, or one tenth of a cubic metre. It is used when a quantity is large enough that ordinary litre measurements become cumbersome but is still smaller than a kilolitre. The unit appears in contexts such as wine production, brewing, agriculture, water storage, and the capacity of tanks or vessels, and it can be written as 100 L or 0.1 m³. In British and Commonwealth English the word is normally spelled hectolitre, following the spelling litre; American usage commonly uses hectoliter. A hectolitre is identical in meaning to a US hectoliter, and the choice of spelling does not indicate a different size. Because it belongs to the metric system, it is especially useful where SI units are standard, though the unit is less familiar in everyday speech than litre, millilitre, or cubic metre. Its name also makes its scale immediately understandable: the prefix hecto- means one hundred.
nounA metric unit of volume equal to 100 litres, 100 cubic decimetres, or 0.1 cubic metres.
- A metric unit of capacity or volume equal to 100 litres.
"The vineyard harvested enough grapes to produce twelve hectolitres of wine."
"The brewery filled a 50-hectolitre tank with wort for fermentation."
"The sprayer used twenty hectolitres of diluted pesticide across the orchard."
The standard plural adds -s; in American usage, the corresponding plural is hectoliters.
"The warehouse can hold several hundred hectolitres of grain."
One hectolitre has the same volume as 100 standard one-litre bottles.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does hectolitre come from?
Hectolitre was formed in the 19th century from the metric prefix hecto- and litre. The prefix comes from Greek hekatón, meaning “hundred,” while litre is the English form of the metric unit litre, originally named in French. The combination follows the standard method of forming metric multiples, with the prefix indicating that one unit is multiplied by 100.
Related word forms
How hectolitre is actually used
This is chiefly a technical, commercial, and industrial unit rather than an everyday household measure. British and Commonwealth English generally use the spelling hectolitre, while American English commonly uses hectoliter.
Easily confused with hectolitre
Hectoliter is the American spelling of the same metric unit, with exactly the same value of 100 litres.