gōng jīn
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我买了一公斤苹果。
wǒ mǎi le yī gōngjīn píngguǒ.
I bought a kilogram of apples.
这个西瓜有五公斤重。
zhège xīguā yǒu wǔ gōngjīn zhòng.
This watermelon weighs five kilograms.
一公斤大米多少钱？
yī gōngjīn dà mǐ duōshǎo qián?
How much is a kilogram of rice?
千克 (qiān kè)
kilogram
公斤 (gōng jīn)
kilogram
克 (kè)
gram
吨 (dūn)
ton
The Chinese word 公斤 (gōngjīn) for "kilogram" is a compound of two characters: 公 (gōng) and 斤 (jīn). The character 公 means "public" or "common", while the character 斤 originally meant "catty", a unit of weight in traditional Chinese systems of measurement. The term 公斤 was coined in the late 19th century as a translation of the metric unit "kilogram". The character 公 was added to indicate that the kilogram is a standard unit of weight used internationally, rather than a local or traditional unit. Therefore, 公斤 literally means "public catty" or "international catty", emphasizing its universal acceptance and usage.
