The abbreviation ml stands for millilitre, an SI derived unit of volume equal to one thousandth of a litre, or one cubic centimetre. It is the universal unit for liquid medication, laboratory reagents, and beverage packaging. In chemistry and medicine, it entirely replaces the cubic centimetre for liquid measurements.
Heard on the job
Draw up 15 ml of the saline solution and flush the IV line before administering the antibiotic.
Insider tip
Both lowercase ml and uppercase mL are accepted by the SI, but mL is preferred in medical and scientific fields to prevent the lowercase l from being misread as the number 1.
Also heard as
- mL
- millilitre
Do not mix it up with
- Mil: An ml is a volume of liquid, whereas a mil is a thousandth of an inch of length.