k

Definition	:	kilo (1000)
Category	:	Academic & Science » Units
Country/Region	:	Worldwide
Popularity	:

What does k mean?

K is used to represent 1000. Kilo is derived from the Greek word χίλιοι (khilioi or chilioi), meaning “thousand”.

k (lowercase) is a prefix used in the metric system, denoting a factor of a thousand (10³ or 1,000)
For example, kilometer (km) means thousand meters

K (uppercase) is often used as a suffix indicating “times 1000”.
For example, 25K means 25000

In some fields of computer science and information technology, K usually means “times 1024”, because of the mathematical coincidence that 2¹⁰ is approximately 10³.
For example, 1 Kb means 1024 bytes.