cm to Inches Converter

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Convert centimeters to inches with the exact international factor: 1 cm = 0.3937 inch, since one inch is defined as 25.4 mm by the 1959 yard-and-pound agreement. Useful for converting body measurements, screen sizes, paper formats and shipping dimensions between metric and US/UK retail listings. Live two-way conversion runs entirely in your browser.

Centimeter (cm)
Inch (in)

Centimeter (cm) → Inch (in)

Quick reference table

Centimeter (cm)Inch (in)
1 cm0.3937 inch
2 cm0.7874 inch
5 cm1.9685 inch
10 cm3.937 inch
25 cm9.8425 inch
50 cm19.685 inch
100 cm39.3701 inch

Glossary

Centimeter (cm)

A centimeter is one hundredth of a meter (1 cm = 10 mm = 0.3937 inch). It is the everyday metric unit for clothing sizes, body measurements, paper formats and small object dimensions. Two and a half centimeters approximate one inch; ninety-one centimeters approximate one yard.

Inch (in)

An inch is the base small unit of the imperial and US customary systems, defined as exactly 25.4 mm since 1959. It appears on screen sizes, tire diameters, pipe fittings, lumber dimensions and DIY tape measures. Twelve inches make one foot; thirty-six make one yard.

Metric system (SI)

The metric system is a decimal system of measurement built around the meter for length, the kilogram for mass and the second for time, with multiples and submultiples expressed as powers of ten (millimeter, centimeter, kilometer). Adopted in France in 1799 and codified internationally as the International System of Units (SI) in 1960, it is now the official measurement system in nearly every country and the standard in science and engineering worldwide.

Imperial / US Customary system

The imperial system is the historical English system of weights and measures whose length units are the inch, foot, yard and mile (12 in = 1 ft, 3 ft = 1 yd, 1,760 yd = 1 mi). Codified by the British Weights and Measures Act of 1824 and aligned with US Customary by the international yard-and-pound agreement of 1959 (1 inch = 25.4 mm exactly), it is still used in the United States, the United Kingdom and a handful of other countries for everyday distances.

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