centiliters

Centiliters are a unit of volume in the metric system. A centiliter (symbol cL or cl) equals one hundredth of a liter, so 1 liter equals 100 centiliters and 1 centiliter equals 10 cubic centimeters (10 mL).

Centiliters are used for measuring small to moderate volumes in everyday contexts and packaging. They commonly appear on beverage labels and in recipes in some countries, particularly in Europe, with bottle sizes such as 25 cl or 75 cl being common.

In metric notation, the liter is the base unit for volume, and the centiliter is a derived unit obtained through decimal prefixes. While the milliliter is more widely used for very small volumes, the centiliter provides a convenient scale between liters and milliliters for human-scale liquids.

Related units include the liter, the milliliter, and the deciliter. The relationships are straightforward: 1 cl = 10 mL = 10 cm³, and 1 L = 100 cl.