ヘクト

Common wordFreq.FrequencyTop 100,000

Meanings

hecto-; one hundred; 10^2

Metric prefix meaning a factor of 100. In everyday Japanese it is mainly encountered in measurement terms, especially ヘクトパスカル for atmospheric pressure.

台たい風ふうの中ちゅう心しん気き圧あつは九きゅう百ひゃく五ご十じゅうヘクトパスカルです。
The typhoon's central pressure is 950 hectopascals.
「ヘクト」はメートル法ほうで百ひゃく倍ばいを表あらわす接せっ頭とう語ごです。
Hecto is a metric prefix meaning one hundred times.

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Don't confuse with

キロN5
ヘクト means a factor of 100 (10^2) while キロ means a factor of 1000 (10^3), so learners often mix up which prefix indicates the larger multiple.
デカ
ヘクト is 10^2 while デカ is only 10^1, and both are rare enough in daily Japanese that learners easily confuse their relative size.
センチN3
ヘクト multiplies by 100 whereas センチ divides by 100, so the two prefixes are easily confused despite being opposite in effect.
ダカ
ヘクト (hecto-) means one hundred times the base unit, a much larger multiple than ダカ (deca-), which means only ten times.

Word family

ヘクトパスカル
hectopascal
ヘクトリットル
hectolitre; hectoliter

Etymology

A katakana representation of the international metric prefix hecto-. No language-of-origin history is specified.