What is millilitre?

A millilitre is a metric unit of volume equal to one thousandth of a litre. It is commonly used in medicine, cooking, laboratory measurements, and the labelling of food and beverage products.

Real-world uses

Millilitres are used for medication dosages (cough syrup, injectable solutions), cooking measurements, cosmetic product volumes, and laboratory reagent quantities. A standard medical syringe is graduated in mL, and espresso shots are typically 25–30 mL.

History

The millilitre emerged naturally from the litre with metric prefix conventions. It became essential in medicine and laboratory science where precise small-volume measurements are critical. In medical contexts, "cc" (cubic centimetre) was long used interchangeably with mL.

Common mistakes

Confusing millilitres with cubic centimetres—they are numerically equal (1 mL = 1 cm³) but conceptually different units. Also, mixing up mL with mg; one is volume, the other is mass.

What is US fluid ounce?

A US fluid ounce is a volume unit equal to approximately 29.57 millilitres. It is used in the United States for beverage servings, cooking measurements, and product labelling.

Real-world uses

US fluid ounces are used for beverage labelling (a standard can of soda is 12 fl oz), cooking measurements, and cosmetics packaging in the United States. Cocktail recipes and bartending rely heavily on fluid ounce measurements (a standard shot is 1.5 fl oz).

History

The US fluid ounce derives from the English wine gallon tradition. When the US and UK diverged in measurement standards in the 19th century, their fluid ounces ended up slightly different. The US fluid ounce is defined as 1/128 of a US gallon.

Common mistakes

Confusing US fluid ounces with Imperial fluid ounces—they differ by about 4% (US: 29.57 mL, Imperial: 28.41 mL). Also, confusing fluid ounces (volume) with avoirdupois ounces (weight), which are completely different measurements.

When is this conversion used?

Converting between millilitre and US fluid ounce is common when working across metric and imperial systems, such as international trade, travel between countries with different measurement standards, or following instructions from a different region.

Worked examples

1 millilitre = 0.03381402 US fluid ounce

1 US fluid ounce = 0.02957353 litre

How to convert millilitre to US fluid ounce

To convert millilitre to US fluid ounce, multiply the value by 0.03381402.

To convert US fluid ounce back to millilitre, multiply by 29.57352956.

Measurement standards

The cubic metre is the SI derived unit of volume. The litre, equal to exactly one cubic decimetre (0.001 m³), is accepted by the BIPM for use alongside SI units. Both the lowercase "l" and uppercase "L" are approved symbols for the litre.

Did you know?

An Olympic swimming pool holds 2,500 cubic metres of water — about 2.5 million litres. The Amazon River discharges roughly 209,000 cubic metres per second, enough to fill 84 Olympic pools every single second.

Quick reference: millilitre to US fluid ounce

millilitreUS fluid ounce
0.10.0033814
0.50.01690701
10.03381402
20.06762805
50.16907011
100.33814023
250.84535057
501.69070114
1003.38140227
2508.45350568
50016.90701135
1,00033.8140227

Common values

millilitreUS fluid ounce
A teaspoon5 millilitre0.16907011 US fluid ounce
A cup of coffee250 millilitre8.45350568 US fluid ounce
A water bottle500 millilitre16.90701135 US fluid ounce
A bathtub300,000 millilitre10,144.20681055 US fluid ounce
A swimming pool (Olympic)2.500000e+09 millilitre84,535,056.7546075 US fluid ounce

Available Volume units

More millilitre conversions