kilo-

The story

1. Ancient Greek · derived fromχίλιοι“one thousand”
2. French · borrowed fromkilo-
3. English todaykilo-

Borrowed from French kilo-, irregularly derived from Ancient Greek χίλιοι (khílioi, “one thousand”). The etymologically "correct" form would be chili- or chilo-, resulting in forms such as chiliasme (“chiliasm”) or chilopode (“centipede”); but the French, when creating the prefix, had to avoid a possible (standard) pronunciation of chi as /ʃi/, too close to the vulgar verb chier (“to shit”).

Words from the same roots