hekto-

1. variant of hecto-: hektometer.

Words That Use Hekto-

What does hekto- mean?

Hekto- is a combining form used like a prefix meaning “hundred.” It is very occasionally used in technical terms, especially in measurements.

Hekto- comes from the Greek hekatón, meaning “hundred,” which is distantly related both to English hundred and Latin centum, “hundred.” Find out more at our entries for cent and hundred.

What are variants of hekto-?

In most instances, hekto- is spelled with a -c-, becoming hecto-.

Want to know more? Check out our Words That Use articles on hect- and hecto-.

Examples of hekto-

One example of a technical term that features the combining form hekto- is hektometer, “a unit of length equal to 100 meters.” Hektometer comes from the French hectomètre, which uses the equivalent of the form hekto-.

The hekto- portion of the word means “hundred,” while the -meter portion of the word here means “meter,” as in “the fundamental unit of length in the metric system.” Hektometer literally translates to “hundred meters.”

What are some words that use the combining form hekto-?

• hektogram
• hektoliter (using the equivalent form of hekto- in French)

What are some other forms that hekto- may be commonly confused with?

• helico-
• hepta-
• hetero-
• hexa-

Break it down!

A gram is a metric unit of mass. With this in mind, how many grams are in a hektogram?