1000 meters is one kilometer. What does the prefix kilo- mean?

Answer 1

"kilo-" is the prefix used to denote 1000 of an item or unit. It comes from the greek word for 1000, "khilioi". The common units it is used for are the kilogram, kilometre, kilowatt, kilojoule, kilopascals. Usually it refers to 1000 basic units but the basic unit for weight is actually the kilogram (not the gram). Colloquially, "one kilogram" is abbreviated to "a kilo" and "one kilometre" is "a k" (pronounced "a kay"). In the measurement of bytes, the unit of information, the kilobyte is actually 1024 bytes. This is because 1024=210, an easy number for computers to deal with.