kilometer

(kĭ-lŏm'ĭ-tər, kĭl'ə-mē'tər)
n. (Abbr. km)
A metric unit of length equal to 1,000 meters (0.62 mile).

kilometric kil'o·met'ric (kĭl'ə-mĕt'rĭk) adj.

USAGE NOTE   Although the pronunciation of kilometer with stress on the second syllable, (kĭ-lŏm'ĭ-tər), is often censured because it does not conform to the stress pattern in millimeter and centimeter (it originally came about by false analogy with barometer and thermometer), it continues to thrive in American English. In a recent survey, 69 percent of the Usage Panel preferred this pronunciation, while 29 percent preferred the pronunciation (kĭl'ə-mē'tər).

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length SI 1960 See kilometre.

To convert from kilometers to:

astronomical unit, multiply by 6.68459E-09.
centimeters, multiply by 1E+05.
feet, multiply by 3280.840.
inches, multiply by 3.937E+04.
light year, multiply by 1.05702E-13.
meters, multiply by 1000.
miles, multiply by .6214.
millimeters, multiply by 1E+06.
yards, multiply by 1094.

Convert:  Into:  astronomical unit centimeters feet inches light year meters miles millimeters yards

Result:

Related measurements:
kilometers/hr
kilometers/hr/sec

(ki-lom-uh-tuhr, kil-uh-mee-tuhr)

In the metric system, one thousand meters, or about five-eighths of a mile.

A measure of distances whose length is 1/10,000 part of the average distance between the equator and either pole and is equivalent to 3280 ft.

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symbol for Michaelis constant (also called Michaelis concentration or, more appropriately Michaelis-Menten constant); the reactant to which it relates may be indicated by an appropriate subscript, e.g. K_mA.

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One thousand (10³) meters; 3280.83 feet; five-eighths of a mile; abbreviated km.

For a list of words related to kilometer, see:

• Metric System - kilometer: km; one thousand meters; equivalent to 0.621 miles

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See words rhyming with "kilometric."