L
Abbreviation with 4 meanings
| Stands for | Liter |
|---|---|
| Meanings | 4 |
| Categories | Units & Measurements, Geography & Places, Texting & Internet Slang, Writing & Everyday |
| Also written | L., l. |
L has four meanings. The most common are Liter (metric and SI unit) and Lake (geographic feature); it can also stand for Loss and Line.
Meanings of L at a glance
| # | L stands for | Context |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Liter | Units & Measurements › Metric and SI Unit |
| 2 | Lake | Geography & Places › Geographic Feature |
| 3 | Loss | Texting & Internet Slang › Gen Z Slang |
| 4 | Line | Writing & Everyday › Citation and Bibliography |
1. Liter
Units & Measurements · Metric and SI Unit Abbreviations
A metric unit of volume equal to one cubic decimeter (1,000 cm³), or about 1.057 US quarts. Beverages, fuel, engine sizes and cooking liquids are measured in liters worldwide; a 2 L soda bottle holds about 67.6 fl oz.
Example: A 2 L bottle of soda serves about eight 8-ounce glasses.
Both L and lowercase l are accepted by SI, but the capital L, approved in 1979, is preferred in the US and in medicine because a lowercase l looks like the digit 1. The spelling is liter in American English and litre in British English. The liter is not an SI unit itself but is accepted for use with SI. A liter of water has a mass very close to one kilogram.
2. Lake (L.)
Geography & Places · Geographic Feature Abbreviations
Abbreviation of Lake on maps and in atlases, usually placed before the name, as in L. Superior, L. Geneva or L. Victoria.
Example: The canoe route crosses L. Champlain at its narrowest point.
Maps use L. where space is tight, while road signs and addresses spell out Lake or use Lk. Scottish lochs and Irish loughs keep their own words.
3. Loss
Texting & Internet Slang · Gen Z Slang Abbreviations · also used in sports
Labels something as a failure, embarrassment or bad decision, as in "that's an L" or "taking the L." Often used to mock or console.
Example: He tried to pay with a coupon from 2019, huge L.
Like W (win), it comes from sports standings. "Take the L" means accepting defeat gracefully, and "L + ratio" is a mocking Twitter reply. Can be harsh when aimed at someone's real setback.
4. Line (l.)
Writing & Everyday · Citation and Bibliography Abbreviations
Cites a single line of a poem, play or text in citations and commentaries, as in "l. 14." It is used mainly for verse, where line numbers are standard.
Example: In this Petrarchan sonnet the turn comes in l. 9, where the speaker abandons his complaint.
MLA discourages l. and ll. because they look like the numerals 1 and 11, recommending "line" and "lines" on first reference and then numbers alone. Chicago still lists both forms. Many early typewriters had no key for the numeral 1, so typists used a lowercase l, which deepened the confusion.
Related abbreviations
More metric and SI unit abbreviations
- km – Kilometer
- km² – Square kilometer
- kN – Kilonewton
- kt – Kiloton (TNT equivalent)
- ly – Light-year
- m – Meter
- mcg – Microgram
- mg – Milligram
See all 64 metric and SI unit abbreviations →