Kitchen know-how · 3 minute read
Gill to milliliters and fluid ounces: US and Imperial
Convert US and Imperial gills to milliliters and US fluid ounces, with their native ounce definitions, US cups and worked amounts.
By TuneMyRecipe. Published .
A US liquid gill is about 118 ml or 4 US fluid ounces. An Imperial gill is about 142 ml or 4.8 US fluid ounces. Both are quarter-pints, but their pints are different sizes. Establish which system the recipe uses before measuring the liquid.
Choose the gill before doing the multiplication
One US liquid gill equals 4 US fluid ounces or 1/2 US cup. An Imperial gill equals 5 Imperial fluid ounces, about 4.8 US fluid ounces. The two fluid ounces differ; keep the system name beside the number.
These rounded amounts use modern nominal unit definitions. US fluid ounces appear in the last column of both tables.
US liquid gill: milliliters and US fluid ounces
| US gill quantity | Metric | US fluid ounces |
|---|---|---|
| 1/2 gill | About 59 ml | 2 US fl oz |
| 1 gill | About 118 ml | 4 US fl oz |
| 2 gills | About 237 ml | 8 US fl oz |
| 4 gills | About 473 ml | 16 US fl oz |
Imperial gill: milliliters and US fluid ounces
| Imperial gill quantity | Metric | US fluid ounces |
|---|---|---|
| 1/2 gill | About 71 ml | About 2.4 US fl oz |
| 1 gill | About 142 ml | About 4.8 US fl oz |
| 2 gills | About 284 ml | About 9.6 US fl oz |
| 4 gills | About 568 ml | About 19.2 US fl oz |
For two gills, multiply the unrounded gill value by two, then round for measuring. Doubling an already rounded 118 ml gives a slightly different display. That extra digit doesn’t make an old utensil more precise.
Reading an older recipe
The 1906 London revision of Mrs. Beeton’s Book of Household Management, p. 126, lists four gills to a pint. Its context belongs to that edition. A different book’s wine pint needs its own definition; the word British alone doesn’t identify every historical pint as Imperial.
If a recipe asks for two gills of milk, the appropriate table answers the volume question once its system is established. It doesn’t tell you the milk’s weight or the weight of flour occupying that space. Fluid ounces measure volume; an ingredient’s ounces may instead be weights.
Our old recipe measurements article explains how to use a cookbook’s measuring notes. After establishing a quantity in supported US measures and choosing the ingredient form, the cups-to-grams converter can help with the separate weight estimate. The tools don’t automatically choose a historical recipe’s gill system.
Sources
- Mrs. Beeton’s Book of Household Management, London, new revised edition, 1906, p. 126. Scan.
- NIST, SI conversion factors, US and Imperial gill entries. Modern comparisons, not calibration of historical vessels.