Liitrit

Liitrit is the partitive form of the Estonian word liiter, and in everyday language it appears when stating quantities of liquids. It is not a separate unit from the liter, but a grammatical form used with numerals and certain constructions.

The liter is the standard metric unit of volume for liquids. It is defined as one cubic decimeter, equal to 1000 cubic centimeters, and equal to 0.001 cubic meters. The symbol commonly used is L (or l), with the uppercase form often preferred in technical contexts to avoid confusion with the numeral 1. The liter is accepted for use with the International System of Units (SI), though it is not an SI base unit.

In Estonian usage, liiter is used for beverages, fuels, and other liquids. When expressing quantities with numerals, the partitive form liitrit is commonly employed, as in kolm liitrit vett, meaning three liters of water. The nominative plural of liiter is liitrid, while the singular is liiter. The language adapts the unit to grammatical cases rather than changing the underlying measurement.

History and context: the liter originated in the French metric system in the 18th century and was defined as the volume of one cubic decimeter. It became part of the modern SI system and is defined as 1 cubic decimeter (1e-3 cubic meters). In everyday usage in Estonia, liiter remains the standard unit for liquid volumes, with liitrit as the common form in numerically expressed quantities.