ml
Meaning of ml: This metric unit of volume, one thousandth of a liter, is used throughout medicine to measure fluids and medication doses.
Definition of ml
mL is the abbreviation for milliliter, a unit of volume in the metric system equal to one thousandth of a liter. One thousand milliliters make up one liter, and the unit is used throughout medicine to measure liquid volumes, including intravenous fluids, oral liquid medications, and laboratory specimens.
A milliliter is equivalent to a cubic centimeter, sometimes abbreviated cc, and the two units are often used interchangeably in clinical settings, particularly when describing the volume of fluid given or a specimen collected.
Because many liquid medications are prescribed based on a concentration expressed as an amount per milliliter, understanding the volume represented by mL is central to accurately measuring and administering a correct amount of medication or fluid.
Also known as
Used in a sentence
The intravenous fluid order specified a rate measured in milliliters per hour.
Good to know
Milliliters measure volume, while milligrams measure mass, so converting between the two for a given medication depends on that medication's specific concentration rather than a fixed, universal relationship.
Word origin
Where “ml” comes from
Formed from milli-, from Latin mille, meaning thousand, indicating one thousandth, and liter, from French litre, ultimately derived from Greek litra, a unit of weight.