/lee"teuhr/ , n.
a unit of capacity redefined in 1964 by a reduction of 28 parts in a million to be exactly equal to one cubic decimeter. It is equivalent to 1.0567 U.S. liquid quarts and is equal to the volume of one kilogram of distilled water at 4°C. Abbr.: l
Also, esp. Brit., litre .
[ 1800-10; litre, back formation from litron an old measure of capacity, deriv. (with -on n. suffix) of ML litra lítra pound ]