kilometre
ki-LOM-i-tuh/kɪˈlɒmɪtə/kuh-LAH-mi-ter/kəˈlɑmɪtəɹ/
Pluralkilometres
US spellingkilometer
- 1A unit of length in the International System of Units, equal to 1,000 metres and written with the symbol km.
The tunnel under the estuary is just over a kilometre long.
She runs ten kilometres in the park every Saturday morning.
UsageWritten km after a number, with no s and no full stop: 5 km (not
incorrect: 5 kms).
Use it in a sentence
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Origin
French formed kilomètre from two Ancient Greek words, khílioi ("thousand") and métron ("measure"), and English took it from French. In English terms it is kilo- plus metre.