Convert deciliters to milliliters
A decilitre is 100 millilitres, so you multiply the number of decilitres by 100. Type a value and the result appears straight away. A recipe calling for 2.5 dl of milk needs 250 ml, and half a decilitre is 50 ml. The field also accepts a fraction as a recipe writes it, such as 2 1/2.
What is a decilitre and what is a millilitre?
A millilitre is the unit printed on a kitchen measuring jug and on the scale of a syringe. It is one thousandth of a litre and holds exactly as much as one cubic centimetre.[1]
A decilitre holds 100 of those millilitres, which makes it one tenth of a litre. The prefix deci means one tenth, and milli means one thousandth.[2] From those two values comes a fixed ratio of 100 millilitres in every decilitre, the same in every country and for every ingredient.
In the United States the recommended symbol for the litre is a capital L, so the two units are written dL and mL. NIST notes that both of these submultiples of the litre are in common use.[3]
How many ml are in 1 dl?
One decilitre is 100 millilitres. To convert, multiply the number of decilitres by 100 and read the result on a jug marked in millilitres.
This multiplier gives three amounts that are handy in the kitchen. Half a decilitre is 50 millilitres. A quarter of a decilitre, written 0.25 dl, gives 25 millilitres. Two and a half decilitres make 250 millilitres.
Smaller and larger amounts work the same way. A tenth of a decilitre, written 0.1 dl, is 10 millilitres, which equals two 5 ml teaspoons. Ten decilitres add up to 1,000 millilitres, a full litre.
Decilitres are common in Croatia, Switzerland and Scandinavia, where they appear in cookbooks and on restaurant and café menus.[1] A Swedish pancake recipe, for example, lists 2 1/2 dl of flour, 6 dl of milk and 1/2 tsk of salt.[4] In millilitres the flour comes to 250 ml and the milk to 600 ml. The abbreviation tsk stands for a 5 ml teaspoon, so the salt is 2.5 ml.[5]
How do you convert decilitres to millilitres?
The formula has a single step: millilitres = decilitres × 100. Multiplying by 100 moves the decimal point two places to the right, so 0.75 dl becomes 75 ml.
With a whole number you simply add two zeros, which turns 4 dl into 400 ml. With one decimal place you fill the empty position with a zero. That is why 3.2 dl gives 320 ml.
Between the decilitre and the millilitre there is also the centilitre. A decilitre divides into 10 centilitres, and a centilitre into 10 millilitres. Those two divisions by ten make the factor of 100.
For the opposite direction, use the millilitres to decilitres converter. If you need the result in litres, switch to the decilitres to litres converter.
Decilitres to millilitres conversion table
| Decilitres | Millilitres | Centilitres |
|---|---|---|
| 0.05 dl | 5 ml | 0.5 cl |
| 0.1 dl | 10 ml | 1 cl |
| 0.25 dl | 25 ml | 2.5 cl |
| 0.3 dl | 30 ml | 3 cl |
| 0.4 dl | 40 ml | 4 cl |
| 0.45 dl | 45 ml | 4.5 cl |
| 0.5 dl | 50 ml | 5 cl |
| 0.6 dl | 60 ml | 6 cl |
| 0.75 dl | 75 ml | 7.5 cl |
| 0.8 dl | 80 ml | 8 cl |
| 0.85 dl | 85 ml | 8.5 cl |
| 1 dl | 100 ml | 10 cl |
| 1.1 dl | 110 ml | 11 cl |
| 1.5 dl | 150 ml | 15 cl |
| 2 dl | 200 ml | 20 cl |
| 2.5 dl | 250 ml | 25 cl |
| 3 dl | 300 ml | 30 cl |
| 3.2 dl | 320 ml | 32 cl |
| 3.5 dl | 350 ml | 35 cl |
| 4 dl | 400 ml | 40 cl |
| 4.5 dl | 450 ml | 45 cl |
| 5 dl | 500 ml | 50 cl |
| 5.5 dl | 550 ml | 55 cl |
| 6 dl | 600 ml | 60 cl |
| 6.5 dl | 650 ml | 65 cl |
| 7 dl | 700 ml | 70 cl |
| 7.5 dl | 750 ml | 75 cl |
| 8 dl | 800 ml | 80 cl |
| 8.5 dl | 850 ml | 85 cl |
| 10 dl | 1,000 ml | 100 cl |
| 15 dl | 1,500 ml | 150 cl |
| 20 dl | 2,000 ml | 200 cl |
| 40 dl | 4,000 ml | 400 cl |
| 50 dl | 5,000 ml | 500 cl |
How many tablespoons and teaspoons are in decilitres?
| Recipe amount | Millilitres | Tablespoons (15 ml) | Teaspoons (5 ml) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0.05 dl | 5 ml | 0.33 tablespoon | 1 teaspoon |
| 0.1 dl | 10 ml | 0.67 tablespoon | 2 teaspoons |
| 0.15 dl | 15 ml | 1 tablespoon | 3 teaspoons |
| 0.25 dl | 25 ml | 1.67 tablespoons | 5 teaspoons |
| 0.3 dl | 30 ml | 2 tablespoons | 6 teaspoons |
| 0.5 dl | 50 ml | 3.33 tablespoons | 10 teaspoons |
| 0.75 dl | 75 ml | 5 tablespoons | 15 teaspoons |
| 1 dl | 100 ml | 6.67 tablespoons | 20 teaspoons |
| 1.5 dl | 150 ml | 10 tablespoons | 30 teaspoons |
| 2 dl | 200 ml | 13.33 tablespoons | 40 teaspoons |
Which number formats does this converter accept?
| What you type | What the converter shows | How we read it |
|---|---|---|
| 5 | 500 ml | A number on its own is read as decilitres, because that is the unit on the field. |
| 5dl | 500 ml | The dl symbol pasted with the number, with or without a space, is skipped, and so is the word decilitres. |
| 2.5 | 250 ml | The decimal point separates the fraction, exactly as you would expect. |
| 2,5 | 250 ml | A comma followed by one or two digits can only be a decimal comma, so the result is the same. |
| 1,500 | 150,000 ml | A comma before three digits groups thousands in English, so this is fifteen hundred decilitres. A note under the field shows the other possible reading, 1.5. |
| 1.500 | 150 ml | A single point is always read as a decimal point, so the field counts one and a half decilitres. A note under the field shows the other possible reading, 1500. |
| 1 500 | 150,000 ml | A space between the thousands, as written in much of Europe and in SI style, gives the same result as 1,500. |
| 3/4 | 75 ml | We work out a fraction with a slash for you, so three quarters of a decilitre needs no conversion to 0.75 first. |
| 1 1/2 | 150 ml | A mixed number is read as one and a half decilitres. |
| 2½ | 250 ml | A ½ sign copied from a label or a recipe is added to the number in front of it. |
| 0.5 l | 500 ml | Litres are converted to decilitres: the field enters 5 and says so in a line under it. |
How do you convert a Swedish recipe into millilitres?
Swedish recipes give three smaller measures alongside decilitres. These four steps turn every ingredient into millilitres you can measure with an ordinary jug.
Multiply decilitres by 100
Every amount in dl becomes millilitres when you multiply it by 100. 2 1/2 dl of flour gives 250 ml. 6 dl of milk gives 600 ml.Turn msk, tsk and krm into millilitres
The abbreviation msk stands for a 15 ml tablespoon and tsk for a 5 ml teaspoon. The smallest measure, krm, holds 1 ml.[5] Two krm of pepper is therefore 2 ml. For a larger number of teaspoons, use the teaspoons to millilitres converter.Measure flour in the same jug as milk
A jug marked in millilitres measures flour by volume too, so 250 ml of flour goes up to the 250 line. Level the surface before you read it.Type the fraction straight from the recipe
The converter field accepts 2 1/2 exactly as the recipe writes it. The result of 250 ml appears as soon as you finish typing.
Convert other units to Millilitres
Convert Decilitres to other units
Sources
- Litre — Wikipedia
- Metric (SI) prefixes — National Institute of Standards and Technology
- NIST Guide to the SI, Chapter 6: Rules and style conventions for printing and using units — National Institute of Standards and Technology
- Pannkakor, grundsmet — a Swedish recipe measuring flour and milk in decilitres — ICA
- Kryddmått — Swedish kitchen measures — Swedish Wikipedia
- 21 CFR 101.9 — Nutrition labeling of food — Legal Information Institute, Cornell Law School
- NIST Special Publication 330, section 4 — non-SI units accepted for use with the SI — National Institute of Standards and Technology
- Blood sugar level — Wikipedia
- CONVERT function — Microsoft
Every figure in the tables was computed from the unit definitions and checked arithmetically before publication. Historical values and the names of local units come from the sources listed above.
Content last reviewed: · written and checked by the Arteon team
Frequently asked questions about decilitres and millilitres
Are dl and dL the same unit?
Yes, both mean the decilitre, and mL is the same millilitre as ml. The 16th General Conference on Weights and Measures adopted the capital L in 1979 as a second symbol for the litre, to avoid the risk of confusing the lower-case letter l with the numeral 1.[7]
What does mg/dL mean on a blood test?
It means milligrams of a substance in one decilitre, which is 100 millilitres, of the sample. In the United States, Germany and Japan blood glucose is expressed in mg/dL, while the United Kingdom and Commonwealth countries use mmol/L.[8] Per millilitre the figure is 100 times smaller, so 90 mg/dL equals 0.9 mg/mL.
How do I convert decilitres to millilitres in a spreadsheet?
Type =A1*100 and fill the formula down the column. In Excel, =CONVERT(A1,"dl","ml") gives the same result, because the documentation allows the prefixes d and m in front of the litre symbol.[9]
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