centimetre

IPA/ˈsentɪmiːtə(r)/
KK[sˈɛntəmˌitɚ]IPA/ˈsentɪmiːtər/

centimetre — noun

  • centimetresingular
  • centimetresplural

1. a standard unit for measuring short lengths. A centimetre is about as wide as an

1.nounA2
Definition

a standard unit for measuring short lengths. A centimetre is about as wide as an adult fingernail, and one hundred of them add up to one metre.

Example

The bookshelf Jin built was exactly ninety centimetres wide, fitting perfectly into the alcove.

centimetres wide — common pattern for object dimensions

Every morning, Beatrix measures the plant stems and records their height in centimetres.

in centimetres — pattern with units of measurement

Common collocations
  • centimetres long
  • centimetres wide
  • centimetres tall
  • centimetres deep
  • centimetres thick
  • per square centimetre
  • cubic centimetre

Grammar Patterns

centimetre(s) + adjective (long/wide/tall/deep/thick)

number + centimetre(s)

in + centimetres

Usage Note

The American English spelling is 'centimeter' (without the second 'e'). The standard abbreviation is 'cm' — with no period after it (e.g. '5 cm', not '5 cm.'). Always use a space between the number and the abbreviation.

Common Mistakes

The table is 120 cms wide.
The table is 120 cm wide.
The abbreviation 'cm' never takes a plural 's'; it stays the same for any number.
I ran 100 centimetres.' (when you mean 100 metres).
I ran 100 metres.
centimetre and metre are easy to confuse; one centimetre is only 1/100 of a metre.

Word family

Synonym discussion

Sense: noun/1

Centimetre, inch, metre, and millimetre are all units of length, but they belong to different measurement systems and suit different scales. The centimetre is a metric unit (1/100 of a metre) used worldwide for everyday measurements — the length of a pencil, the width of a book, or the height of a plant. The inch (2.54 cm) is the Imperial equivalent, still common in the US and UK for screen sizes, clothing, and body height. The metre is the base metric unit, best for larger distances like room dimensions or running tracks (100 cm = 1 m). The millimetre is ten times smaller than a centimetre (10 mm = 1 cm) and is used for fine measurements such as paper thickness or screw diameters. When describing small objects around the house, 'centimetre' is the most natural choice — for example, 'a 30 cm ruler' sounds natural in metric contexts, whereas 'a 12-inch ruler' tells you the same thing in Imperial terms.

centimetre ↗inch ↗metre ↗millimetre ↗

Common collocations

Nouns

  • centimetre rule
  • centimetre scale
  • square centimetre
  • cubic centimetre
  • centimetre gap

Phrases

  • centimetres long
  • centimetres wide
  • centimetres deep
  • centimetres per second
  • every centimetre counts

Prepositions

  • in centimetres
  • per centimetre
  • by ... centimetres

Etymology

LatinGreekFrenchEnglish

The word 'centimetre' combines the French prefix 'centi-' (meaning 'hundred', from Latin 'centum') with 'mètre' (from Greek 'metron', meaning 'measure'). The metric system was developed in France in the 1790s, and 'centimetre' — one hundredth of a metre — entered English in the early 1800s as the system spread across Europe.