lí mǐ
centimetre
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这块布长20厘米，宽15厘米。
Zhè kuài bù cháng èrshí límǐ, kuǎn shíwǔ límǐ.
This piece of cloth is 20 centimeters long and 15 centimeters wide.
我的身高是170厘米。
Wǒ de shēngāo shì yībǎi qīshí límǐ.
My height is 170 centimeters.
这张纸的厚度只有0.1厘米。
Zhè zhāng zhǐ de hòudù zhǐyǒu líng yī diǎn límǐ.
The thickness of this paper is only 0.1 centimeters.
公分 (gōng fèn)
centimeter
釐米 (lí mǐ)
centimeter
毫米 (hǎomǐ)
millimeter
微米 (wēimǐ)
micrometer
The Chinese word 厘米 (lì mǐ) for "centimeter" is a compound of two characters: 厘 (lí) and 米 (mǐ). The character 厘 (lí) originally meant "a small amount" or "a fraction", and was often used in ancient Chinese texts to refer to very small units of measurement. The character 米 (mǐ) originally meant "rice", but was also used in ancient Chinese texts to refer to other small objects, such as grains of sand or seeds. Over time, the character 米 (mǐ) came to be used more generally to refer to any small unit of measurement, and the compound 厘米 (lì mǐ) was created to specifically refer to the unit of measurement known as a centimeter.
