kilometer

noun

ki·​lo·​me·​ter kə-ˈlä-mə-tər How to pronounce kilometer (audio)
ki-;
ˈki-lə-ˌmē-tər How to pronounce kilometer (audio)
ˈkē-lə-
: a metric unit of length equal to 1000 meters see Metric System Table
How do you pronounce kilometer?: Usage Guide

In North American speech kilometer is most often pronounced with primary stress on the second syllable. This pronunciation is also heard frequently in British speech. Those who object to second syllable stress say that the first syllable should be stressed in accord with the stress patterns of centimeter, millimeter, etc. However, the pronunciation of kilometer does not parallel that of other metric compounds. From 1828 to 1841 Noah Webster indicated only second syllable stress, and his successor added a first syllable stress variant in the first Merriam-Webster dictionary of 1847. Thus, both pronunciations are venerable. Most scientists use second syllable stress, although first syllable stress seems to occur with a higher rate of frequency among scientists than among nonscientists.

Did you know?

A kilometer is equal to about 62/100 of a mile, and a mile is equal to about 1.61 kilometers. The U.S. has been slow to adopt metric measures, which are used almost everywhere else in the world. Though our car speedometers are often marked in both miles and kilometers, the U.S. and Great Britain are practically the only developed nations that still show miles rather than kilometers on their road signs. But even in the U.S., footraces are usually measured in meters or kilometers, like the Olympic races. Runners normally abbreviate kilometer to K: "a 5K race" (3.1 miles), "the 10K run" (6.2 miles), and so on.

Examples of kilometer in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web The Smokehouse Creek fire burned nearly 1,700 square miles (4,400 square kilometers) and destroyed hundreds of structures. Jamie Stengle, Quartz, 7 Mar. 2024 Even with current defenses in place, an additional 1,389 square kilometers of land along US coasts could be threatened by sea level rise by 2050. Justine Calma, The Verge, 6 Mar. 2024 Only 12 million people lived within the area of totality for the 2017 eclipse, while nearly 32 million are in the 2024 path, and 150 million people live within 200 miles (322 kilometers) of it. Ashley Strickland, CNN, 5 Mar. 2024 While Germany will provide $30 billion in arms to Kyiv in the coming years, the Taurus can strike at a distance of 500 kilometers, or 310 miles. Christopher F. Schuetze, New York Times, 4 Mar. 2024 Ranchers and state officials do not yet know the overall number of cattle killed in wildfires that have burned 1,950 square miles (5,050 square kilometers), briefly shut down a nuclear power plant, charred hundreds of homes and other structures, and left two people dead. Sean Murphy, Fortune, 2 Mar. 2024 Respect the exclusion radius of 12 kilometers from the crater, being within this area is not safe. Ingrid Vasquez, Peoplemag, 29 Feb. 2024 As per its latest National Determined Contributions (NDC), Antigua faces the prospect of losing about 26.6 to 35.3 square kilometers of low-lying coastal land to sea level rise by 2080. Daphne Ewing-Chow, Forbes, 29 Feb. 2024 Fears for their safety rose after their bloodied belongings were found in a skip container in Cronulla, around 30 kilometers (18 miles) away. Alex Stambaugh, CNN, 27 Feb. 2024

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'kilometer.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

French kilomètre, from kilo- + mètre meter

First Known Use

1810, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of kilometer was in 1810

Dictionary Entries Near kilometer

Cite this Entry

“Kilometer.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/kilometer. Accessed 19 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

kilometer

noun
ki·​lo·​me·​ter kə-ˈläm-ət-ər How to pronounce kilometer (audio) kil-ˈäm- How to pronounce kilometer (audio)
ˈkil-ə-ˌmēt-ər
: a metric unit of length equal to 1000 meters see metric system

Medical Definition

kilometer

noun
ki·​lo·​me·​ter
variants or chiefly British kilometre
: 1000 meters

More from Merriam-Webster on kilometer

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!