What does "kilometre" mean?

An SI unit of length equal to 10³ metres. Symbol: km

What is a synonym for "kilometre"?

Common synonyms include: klick, km, ;, kilo, kilometer, kilometer.

Kilometre

Q: How do you use "kilometre" in a sentence?

A three-person team is undertaking a 40,000-kilometre motorcycle journey from the Arctic Circle in Alaska to the southern tip of South America.

//kɪˈlɒmɪtə// noun

noun ·Uncommon ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun

1
An SI unit of length equal to 10³ metres. Symbol: km
"Holonyms: megametre < gigametre < terametre < petametre"
2
a metric unit of length equal to 1000 meters (or 0.621371 miles) wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms

klick km ;kilo kilometer kilometer

Antonyms

All antonyms

mile

Example

More examples

"A three-person team is undertaking a 40,000-kilometre motorcycle journey from the Arctic Circle in Alaska to the southern tip of South America."

Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰes- Proto-Indo-European *-lom Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰesliyoy Proto-Hellenic *kʰehliyoi Ancient Greek χίλιοι (khílioi)der. French kilo- Proto-Indo-European *meh₁- Proto-Indo-European *-tḗr Proto-Indo-European *-trom Proto-Hellenic *-tron Ancient Greek -τρον (-tron) Ancient Greek μέτρον (métron)der. Latin metrumbor. French mètre French kilomètrebor. English kilometre From French kilomètre, from Ancient Greek χίλιοι (khílioi, “thousand”) + μέτρον (métron, “measure”); equivalent to kilo- + metre.

More for "kilometre"

Synonyms Sentences Pronunciation Translate

Next best steps

Find stronger synonyms See usage examples Check pronunciation Browse writing guides

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.