kilometer
noun
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
Tim Lister, CNN Money, 1 Feb. 2026
Punxsutawney club members say there are two types of people who show up at Phil’s spot about 80 miles (123 kilometers) northeast of Pittsburgh — those seeking to validate their beliefs and doubters who want to confirm their own skepticism.
—Mark Scolforo, Fortune, 31 Jan. 2026
For outdoor activities beyond downhill skiing, the Nordic Center offers more than 15 kilometers of groomed cross-country ski trails and snowshoe trails.
—Condé Nast, Condé Nast Traveler, 30 Jan. 2026
Using the 17-mile (27 kilometers) long accelerator located near Geneva, Switzerland, a team of researchers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) generated quark-gluon plasma.
—Robert Lea, Space.com, 30 Jan. 2026
See All Example Sentences for kilometer
Cite this Entry
“Kilometer.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/kilometer. Accessed 4 Feb. 2026.
Copy CitationKids Definition
kilometer
noun
kil-ˈäm-
Medical Definition
kilometer
noun
