kilogram (English)
Where does "kilogram" come from?
The English word 'kilogram' was borrowed from the French 'kilogramme,' which combined the prefix 'kilo-' with the noun 'gramme.' 'Gramme' originates from the Ancient Greek 'grámma,' meaning a small weight, which itself traces back to the Proto-Indo-European root '*gerbʰ-' meaning 'to carve.' This connects the modern scientific unit of mass to ancient roots that also birthed the English word 'carve.'
Full etymology tree
- kilogram (English), 'In the International System of Units, the base unit of mass; conceived of as the mass of one litre of water, but now defined by taking the fixed numerical value of the Planck constant h to be 6.626 070 15 × 10⁻³⁴ when expressed in units of kg⋅m²⋅s⁻¹. Symbol: kg'
- borrowed kilogramme (French), 'kilogram'
- compound kilo- (French), 'kilo-'
- compound gramme (French), 'gram (unit of mass)'
- borrowed γράμμα (grámma) (Ancient Greek), 'that which is written, that which is drawn, picture'
- derived γράφω (grắphō) (Ancient Greek), 'to scratch, cut into'
- inherited *grə́pʰō (Proto-Hellenic), 'to scratch, cut or carve into'
- inherited *gr̥bʰ-é-ti (Proto-Indo-European)
- derived *gerbʰ- (Proto-Indo-European), 'to carve'
- inherited *gr̥bʰ-é-ti (Proto-Indo-European)
- inherited *grə́pʰō (Proto-Hellenic), 'to scratch, cut or carve into'
- derived γράφω (grắphō) (Ancient Greek), 'to scratch, cut into'
- borrowed γράμμα (grámma) (Ancient Greek), 'that which is written, that which is drawn, picture'
- borrowed kilogramme (French), 'kilogram'
Direct ancestors
Updated June 2026
Etymology data from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · About Miraris