Milliliter (ml)

The milliliter is the small metric unit of volume printed on drink cans, perfume bottles, measuring jugs and metric spoons. It covers amounts too small to write neatly in liters, from a splash of vanilla to a can of soda.

Since 1964, when the liter became a special name for the cubic decimeter, a milliliter has been exactly the same as a cubic centimeter (BIPM). Before that, the two differed by a few parts per hundred thousand, because the liter was based on the volume of a kilogram of water.

A milliliter of water weighs about 1 gram, a link that goes back to how the metric system first tied mass to water. That is why a kitchen scale can stand in for a measuring jug when the liquid is water.

All three name the same amount. This site writes ml, NIST's style guide uses mL with a capital L (NIST), and US food labels that abbreviate the unit must use mL (21 CFR 101.9).

The older abbreviation cc, short for cubic centimeter, still shows up on some syringes and in engine sizes. Whichever form a label uses, the amount is the same and converts the same way.

Metric measuring spoons make small amounts simple: a metric teaspoon is 5 ml and a metric tablespoon is 15 ml. US spoons are close enough for most recipes, at 4.93 ml and 14.79 ml.

For larger amounts, use a jug marked in milliliters, or a kitchen scale. Set a container on the scale, press tare, and pour water until the display shows as many grams as the milliliters you need; this works for water and closely for milk, but not for oil or honey.