What it means
کیلوگرم (kilogram) means “kilogram,” the metric unit of mass equal to one thousand grams. The word entered Persian from French (kilogramme), which itself built the term from Greek kilo (thousand) and gramma (a small weight). Iran uses the metric system, so kilogram is the everyday standard for measuring weight in markets, kitchens, medical settings, and sports. In casual speech Iranians often shorten it to کیلو (kilo), which is the form you will hear most in markets and daily conversation.
How to use it
- یه کیلوگرم گوجه میخوام. (ye kilogram goje mikhâm.) “I want one kilogram of tomatoes.”
- وزنم هفتاد کیلوگرمه. (vaznam haftâd kilogram-e.) “My weight is seventy kilograms.”
- این چمدون ده کیلوگرمه. (in chamedun dah kilogram-e.) “This suitcase is ten kilograms.”
- دو کیلوگرم گوشت بخر. (do kilogram gusht bekhar.) “Buy two kilograms of meat.”
Cultural note
Iran officially adopted the metric system in 1925 under Reza Shah Pahlavi, with groundwork laid in the late Qajar era, and the metric vocabulary including kilogram came largely through French, which was the dominant European language of diplomacy and science in that era. In Iranian markets, vendors today almost always say کیلو rather than the full کیلوگرم, and prices are quoted per kilo. Gyms and health clinics use the full form in formal records, and food packaging always displays weight in grams or kilograms.