What it means
میلیمتر (millimetr) means “millimetre,” one thousandth of a metre. The word was borrowed from French millimètre together with the rest of the metric vocabulary that entered Persian in the early twentieth century. In everyday speech Iranians often shorten it to میلی (milli) in casual contexts. Its close relatives in the metric ladder are سانتیمتر (sântimetr, centimetre) and متر (metr, metre).
How to use it
- بارندگی دیروز ۱۵ میلیمتر بود. (bârandegi-ye diruz pânzdah millimetr bud.) “Yesterday’s rainfall was 15 millimetres.”
- این پیچ دو میلیمتر قطر داره. (in pich do millimetr qotr dâre.) “This screw has a two-millimetre diameter.”
- ضخامت شیشه ۶ میلیمتره. (zakhâmat-e shishe shesh millimetre.) “The glass thickness is 6 millimetres.”
- خط رو با دقت تا میلیمتر اندازه بگیر. (khatt ro bâ deqqat tâ millimetr andâze begir.) “Measure the line precisely to the millimetre.”
Cultural note
Iran uses the metric system for all official and scientific purposes, and میلیمتر appears routinely in weather reports (rainfall), medical imaging (tumour size), and engineering drawings. It is also the unit used in Iran’s construction industry for specifying tolerances and material thicknesses, making it a word that builders, architects, and mechanics encounter every working day.